Impact of HIV/AIDS on local farming knowledge: differences in the cognitive salience of maize crop pests between affected and non-affected adults and children in Benin

The spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to farming communities has increased the precariousness of life for millions of smallholders. Researchers note a shift towards an increasing number of rural children taking on adult responsibilities. In difficult contexts such as that of the HIV/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic with its depletive effect on rural livelihoods, agricultural knowledge is a very important resource. This chapter examines maize crop pest agricultural knowledge of children orphaned by AIDS relative to adults in HIV/AIDS affected and non-affected households and children in non-affected households. For affected boys and men, as with affected women and girls, the salience is deepening. Adults living in affected households and children orphaned by AIDS had higher cognitive salience index (CSI) scores on 10 out of the 12 items compared to the non-affected adults and children. AIDS-orphaned children had higher CSI scores for 50 per cent of the items than the AIDS-affected adults.