AIDS has dramatic consequences for food security in Africa. Millions of farmers on this continent have died of AIDS or have become too sick to work. Frequently, the women who are left behind must feed their families.

Policymakers are still not sufficiently cognizant of the important role of women in the food supply. A research programme at Wageningen University aims to contribute to solutions for this problem. Twenty women from 11 African countries have come to Wageningen for PhD studies on leadership, AIDS and food security in order to apply this knowledge in their home countries.

More information:

• Presentation: AWLAE (ppt) (African Women Leaders in Agriculture and the Environment) - Backgrounds and goals 
   
• Wageningen University
  • Mansholt Graduate School of Social Sciences
    • Research area Gender in Food and Agriculture
       
• Brochure: AWLAE-Net (pdf) (AWLAE-Net Improving the Lives and Livelihoods of African Women, their Families and Communities)
   
• Internet: "Women: the face of AIDS in Africa" on Africa Renewel (African Information department of the United Nations)
   
• Books on the Internet: Book series AWLAE (seven relevant book titles from Wageningen Academic Publishers)