U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 348
27 October - 2 November 2007


CONTENTS:

SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV-induced famine's impact on agriculture
ZIMBABWE: 'Economic weather' closes down rural areas
COMOROS: AU patience runs out
SOUTH AFRICA: Government housing project excludes poorest of the poor
ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again
SOUTH AFRICA: Land redistribution moves to the front burner


SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV-induced famine's impact on agriculture

Hunger and HIV/AIDS are reinforcing each other in Southern Africa, 
"leading to a potentially tragic new level of famine", says a book 
published by a regional agricultural think-tank. The World Bank's annual 
report, released last week, also raises concerns over the pandemic's 
impact, pointing out that most people affected by HIV and AIDS depend on 
agriculture.

Food consumption has been found to drop by 40 percent in homes afflicted 
by HIV/AIDS, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation; 
globally, Southern Africa is the region most affected by the pandemic.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75067


ZIMBABWE: 'Economic weather' closes down rural areas

"Closed on account of economic weather", says the notice stuck on the 
door of a hardware shop in a business centre in rural Shurugwi, about 
200km northeast of Gweru, capital of Zimbabwe's Midlands Province.

The gallows humour of the notice draws laughter from villagers, who used 
to depend on the shopping centre, popularly known as a growth point 
because it served a number of villages in the surrounding area, but is 
now an indicator of rural economic decline.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75058


COMOROS: AU patience runs out

Seeking to end a burgeoning political crisis, African Union (AU) 
representatives and the Comoros Union government are applying sanctions 
targeted at the renegade leadership of Anjouan, one of the three islands 
comprising the Union of Comoros.

The AU has been attempting to negotiate a peaceful resolution to 
inter-island hostility between Anjouan and the two other islands in the 
archipelago, Grande Comore and Moheli, since authorities on Anjouan 
refused to stand down following elections in June.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75081


SOUTH AFRICA: Government housing project excludes poorest of the poor

Thousands of the poorest residents in Cape Town, South Africa, are 
facing eviction from an informal settlement to make way for a government 
housing project.

About 20,000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement near Langa, 
a township about 15km from Cape Town along the N2, the main access road 
to and from the airport, are opposing their forced removal to Delft, 
about 20km northeast of the city, because they say it would reduce their 
standard of living further and make it difficult and more expensive to 
travel to the city for work.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75102


ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again

When Zimbabwe registered a decline in HIV prevalence rates in 2004, and 
again in 2006, the news was met with scepticism, but new official 
figures released on Wednesday indicate the downward trend has continued, 
with rates falling by 10 percent over the past 5 years.

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, assisted by a group 
of international experts, based the new seroprevalence rate on HIV 
infection in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, and estimate 
the level among the adult population at 15.6 percent, according to a UN 
statement.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75120


SOUTH AFRICA: Land redistribution moves to the front burner

The South African government has revealed that less than 5 percent of 
white-owned commercial agricultural land has been redistributed since 
the demise of apartheid in 1994, making the target of having 30 percent 
redistributed by 2014 seem almost unachievable.

Dealing with the skewed apartheid land legacy has been a constant 
refrain of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) since it came to 
power nearly 14 years ago, but progress has been stymied by a range of 
factors, including capacity constraints in the Land Affairs Department, 
steep rises in property prices, and political will.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75127


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