{"id":386692,"date":"2011-04-21T13:04:22","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T13:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/21\/as-food-prices-bite-hiv-positive-people-turn-to-kitchen-gardens\/"},"modified":"2011-04-21T13:04:22","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T13:04:22","slug":"as-food-prices-bite-hiv-positive-people-turn-to-kitchen-gardens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/21\/as-food-prices-bite-hiv-positive-people-turn-to-kitchen-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"As Food Prices Bite, HIV-Positive People Turn to Kitchen Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"PlusNews<\/a><\/p>\n

21 April 2011<\/p>\n

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Kirombe \u2014 The small 10m by 15m garden behind Agnes Oroma’s house in northern Uganda’s Gulu district is much more than a hobby garden; according to HIV-positive Oroma, it is one of the main reasons she is in good health.<\/p>\n

She grows indigenous vegetables and tomatoes to supplement her daily diet of beans, maize meal and silver fish; Oroma also proudly shows off a sisal sack in which she grows onions.<\/p>\n

“Do not ignore that little space behind your house, it can do a lot to feed you cheaply and lessen your financial burden that would enable you spend on other essentials to keep you healthy on your daily ARV treatment,” 31-year-old Oroma told IRIN\/PlusNews.<\/p>\n

In the face of rising global fuel prices and a prolonged dry spell, Ugandans are dealing with steep increases in the price of food that have sparked protests in many parts of the country. According to a recent report by the World Bank, the price of maize in Uganda has risen by 114 percent over the past year.<\/p>\n

Oroma and other HIV-positive patients in Gulu town are becoming more self-reliant in an effort to maintain a healthy diet and stay on their antiretroviral medication. Oroma’s group of backyard farmers has grown to 30 in the past few months.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kate Holt\/IRIN<\/a><\/p>\n

A woman cooks a meal for her grandchildren outside her home in Kasese, Uganda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Food was my biggest worry for my treatment; I had become weaker because my body didn’t have the strength to withstand the potency of the ARV drugs,” said Maurine Kilama. “Since I started growing these vegetables, producing more food, I feel a lot of improvement and I have the strength to do other things.<\/p>\n

“I now take my medication without worries because I know the food I grow can keep me going for another day,” she added.<\/p>\n

Kilama said by September 2010, her weight had dipped to 52kg from her usual 58kg; since she started her garden, she has regained 4kg.<\/p>\n

“The onions and vegetables I harvested from my small plot in March fetched me 100,000 shillings [$41.60],” she said. “I planted them between November and January; growing them is easy provided you water them early morning and evening.”<\/p>\n

Since I started growing these vegetables, producing more food, I feel a lot of improvement and I have the strength to do other things<\/p>\n

The money helped to buy food and pay school fees.<\/p>\n

Emergency feeding<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, for many HIV-positive people, already weakened by lack of food, working in a garden is not an option. At Gulu Hospital, 1,792 HIV-positive patients received emergency therapeutic food support in 2010. Since the beginning of 2011, more than 300 have registered.<\/p>\n

“Nutrition is affecting HIV care; when we started assessing nutrition we got to know that the patients were undergoing difficult times,” said Francesca Achieng, a nutritionist at the hospital. “[Without adequate food] a patient cannot withstand the strength of ARV drugs because of its side-effects, the drugs are toxic, they can destroy your body while they fight to reduce multiplication of the virus in your body.”<\/p>\n

Patients are assessed and initially given rations of therapeutic food, collected along with their ARVs.<\/p>\n

However, many HIV-positive people find themselves back at the emergency feeding centre, unable to pay for costly food. A group of people living with HIV in Gulu has appealed to the government to set up nutritional support programmes to ensure they are able to continue with their ARV regimens.<\/p>\n

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]<\/em><\/p>\n

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