There are several countries in southern Africa that have been experiencing both a food crisis and an HIV epidemic. According to UNAIDS (UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global
HIV/AIDS and STI Survelliance, 2001), in 2002 an estimated 14.4 million people were at risk of starvation in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This food crisis, which has been evolving since the 1992 southern African drought, has also been associated with “alarmingly high prevalence rates” of HIV. In the past, households in these nations were able to cope with food crises through producing food, earning cash from food produced, and relying on trading and bartering; however, HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS, has led to an erosion of coping mechanisms with food shortages. I hypothesize that in these highly constrained settings, women with low autonomy and status will be less likely to obtain adequate food resources and will then be more likely to experience undernutrition or chronic energy deficiency (CED).