Agricultural Livelihoods, Food Security, and Women's Risk of HIV Infection

该K 01指导研究科学家发展奖将为候选人提供高级培训，使其成为一名独立的研究人员，专注于将流行病学，行为科学和经济发展联系起来的艾滋病毒预防策略。该研究员的长期目标是制定、实施和评价创新的多学科干预措施，以减少发展中国家妇女和女孩的艾滋病毒感染率。拟议的工作范围包括培训和研究部分，充分利用加州大学伯克利分校丰富的跨学科研究环境以及候选人咨询委员会的机构。培训部分构成了该提案的基础，包括两名高级导师，一个具有互补专业知识的顾问小组，教学教育，技能发展和指导研究，以便在完成奖励时，候选人将处于有利地位独立的研究生涯。培训计划与指导研究计划同时制定，以便在获得新的教育和技能时，可以立即将其应用于研究计划的相关方面。在该奖项的过程中，将实现四个培训目标：（1）获得负责任的研究，经济学和国际发展政策的教育;（2）获得农业和资源经济学，干预措施开发以及实验性流行病学研究的开展和分析方面的实用技能;（3）完成指导研究计划，以设计和试点艾滋病毒预防干预措施;（4）完成艾滋病研究计划。以及（4）通过建立出版记录、由主题专家指导以及为未来提案生成试点数据，成为独立调查员。研究部分的目标是审查经济环境如何影响坦桑尼亚农村妇女感染艾滋病毒的脆弱性，并试行一项干预措施，在经济上赋予女农民权力，减少艾滋病毒感染。在撒哈拉以南非洲，由于缺乏获得和控制经济资源的机会，增加了感染艾滋病毒的可能性，因此促进妇女经济赋权越来越被视为预防艾滋病毒的一个有希望的办法。这项建议对艾滋病毒预防采取了一种创新办法，将重点放在农业上，因为农业与发展中世界的贫穷和粮食安全有着不可分割的联系。然而，很少有干预措施系统地将农业生计、粮食安全和艾滋病毒预防结合起来。研究的目的是：（1）调查以农业为基础的可持续生计干预措施的潜力，以减少坦桑尼亚女性农民感染艾滋病毒的风险;（2）确定坦桑尼亚女性户主农业家庭的家庭收入、粮食不安全和土地所有权对性风险承担的影响;（3）对坦桑尼亚女农民的可持续农业生计干预进行试点研究，以提高家庭收入和粮食安全，减少性风险。本研究将提供定量和定性证据，以确定未来是否值得进行干预试验。显然需要有关于经济不安全对艾滋病毒脆弱性的影响的经验证据。此外，必须制定多部门预防对策，以应对非洲妇女面临的巨大经济、社会和背景风险。这项建议旨在满足这两方面的需要，其结果将对今后应对艾滋病毒流行病产生重要影响。 公共卫生相关性：在撒哈拉以南非洲，促进妇女的经济安全越来越被视为预防艾滋病毒的一种有希望的方法。在这项研究中，我们将研究经济因素与坦桑尼亚女性农民艾滋病毒感染风险之间的关系，然后将制定和试点以农业为基础的生计干预措施，以减少妇女感染艾滋病毒的风险。这项研究将有助于更好地了解经济如何影响妇女感染艾滋病毒的脆弱性，以及支持生产性农业生计是否可以减少农村妇女的这种风险。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award will provide advanced training for the candidate to become an independent investigator focusing on HIV prevention strategies that link epidemiology, behavioral science, and economic development. The long-term goal of the investigator is to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative and multidisciplinary interventions to reduce the incidence of HIV infection among women and girls in the developing world. The proposed scope of work includes both training and research components that capitalize on the rich interdisciplinary research environment at the University of California, Berkeley as well as the institutions of the candidate's advisory committee. The training component forms the foundation of the proposal and includes two senior mentors, a panel of advisors with complementary expertise, didactic education, skill development, and mentored research such that at the completion of the award the candidate will be well-positioned for an independent research career. The training plan has been developed in parallel with the mentored research plan such that when new education and skills are obtained they can be immediately applied to the relevant aspects of the research program. Four training objectives will be accomplished during the course of this award: (1) obtain education in the responsible conduct of research, economics, and international development policy; (2) obtain practical skills in agricultural and resource economics, intervention development, and the conduct and analysis of experimental epidemiological studies; (3) complete a mentored research program to design and pilot an HIV prevention intervention; and (4) become an independent investigator through building the publication record, mentoring by subject matter experts, and generating pilot data for a future proposal. The goal of the research component is to examine how the economic context shapes women's vulnerability to HIV infection in rural Tanzania and to pilot an intervention to economically empower women farmers and reduce HIV infection. The promotion of women's economic empowerment is increasingly viewed as a promising approach to HIV prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa as the lack of access to and control over economic resources heightens susceptibility to HIV infection. This proposal takes an innovative approach to HIV prevention by focusing on agriculture, which is inextricably linked to poverty and food security in the developing world. However, few interventions have systematically integrated agricultural livelihoods, food security, and HIV prevention. The research aims are to: (1) investigate the potential for a sustainable agriculture-based livelihood intervention to reduce the risk of HIV infection among women farmers in Tanzania; (2) determine the effect of household income, food insecurity, and land ownership on sexual risk-taking among female-headed farming households in Tanzania; and (3) conduct a pilot study of a sustainable agriculture- based livelihood intervention for women farmers in Tanzania to improve household income and food security and reduce sexual risk-taking. This study will provide quantitative and qualitative evidence to determine whether a future trial is merited for the intervention. There is a clear need for empirical evidence about the effects of economic insecurity on HIV vulnerability. In addition, the development of multi-sectoral responses to prevention that can address the entwined economic, social, and contextual risks with which African women contend is imperative. This proposal has been designed to address both of these needs and the results will have important implications for future responses to the HIV pandemic. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Promoting women's economic security is increasingly viewed as a promising approach to HIV prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this study we will examine the association between economic factors and HIV risk in women farmers in Tanzania, and will then develop and pilot an agriculture-based livelihoods intervention to reduce women's risk of HIV infection. This research will lead to a better understanding of how economics shape women's vulnerability to HIV infection and whether supporting productive agricultural livelihoods can reduce this risk among rural women.