Empirical Analysis of Interactions of Agricultural Sector and HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Africa

ABSTRACT

This study examines long run economic cost of HIV/AIDS on agriculture. Twenty-two African Countries were identi- fied through purposive sampling. The sampling procedure helped to identify 1420 affected households. However, 1300 observations were found suitable for the subsequent analysis. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and Overlap- ping Generation (OLG) model. The causes of high prevalence rates are the issue of poverty, fertility, myth and migra- tion among others. Factors responsible for the classification of high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates were the patterns of spread of infectious disease that are closely associated with patterns of human mobility. For lower HIV/AIDS preva- lence rate factors were low values of procreation and high values placed on morals. A positive correlation between HIV prevalence and GDP per capita was found. The study found out that there is a curvilinear relationship between the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and agricultural/economic growth in terms of human capita development.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates; Long-Run Economic Cost; Overlapping Generation (OLG) Model; Econometric Inference; Africa