The dynamics of household response to AIDS impacts are complex and differ
according to the severity of illness, multiplicity/frequency of death occurrences,
availability and access to support structures as well as survival strategies
embedded in the context of culture and biodiversity. This paper focuses on
household responses to AIDS related stressors and utilization of natural
resources by communities involved in Community Based Natural Resource
Management (CBNRM) projects in Ngamiland, in north western Botswana. The
study involved two single village and two multi-village community trusts. Data
were collected through a simple random sampling of 121 households obtained
from the 2001 national population census enumeration areas. The results showed
that households in CBNRM villages have diverse sources of livelihoods such as
farming; basket making and government assistance, sale of grass and reeds,
fishing and remittances. More than half of sampled households had orphans,
68% had a continuously ill person (CIP) in the last five years, and, of these, 63%
had died within the past year. Affected households received support primarily
from the extended family, neighbours, church groups and friends. The study
concludes that, in Ngamiland, access to external/formal and internal/informal
social support mediates HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality, and helps
households cushion the environmental impacts of AIDS by acting as a buffer
against selection and over utilization of natural resources.