Abstract

This study examines the coping strategies used by AIDS-affected households facing food security problems. The results from the multinomial logistic model showed that,during 2004/05 and 2006/07, the most dominant coping strategy used by AIDS-affected households facing food security problems, was buying food from the market. This is followed by casual labour, obtaining food from relatives and friends, eating unripe maize before harvest and irrigation farming. The results from logistic discriminant analysis function indicate that, for all households, ordinary coping strategies are dominant among food-insecure households with a total score of close to 80 percent, much higher than survival strategies at around 20 percent during 2004/05.

Key words: Morbidity, mortality, coping strategies, farm households, Malawi.