Food insecurity plays a major role in the development

Food insecurity plays a major role in the development of malnutrition in resource-poor and resource-adequate settings. In resource-poor settings, there is decreased or no adult labor in HIV/AIDS affected households. These households have less capacity to produce or purchase foods and have higher medical costs. In addition, children often stop their schooling to work, or simply because the family affected by HIV can no longer afford the education. Research in Tanzania showed that food consumption decreased 15 percent per capita when an adult died. Funeral costs deplete monies that could be used for food. The agricultural knowledge base of families and communities decreases as individuals with farming and science knowledge die from HIV/AIDS.²⁷

Women are especially vulnerable in HIV/AIDS-affected households. Usually, they care for the sick and dying in addition to maintaining heavy workloads related to gathering food and feeding the household. If the mother dies of HIV, often the family goes hungry because of decreased means of food gathering and preparation. One study showed that food insecurity and malnutrition were the most immediate problems faced by female-headed households affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda