The Impact of Food Assistance on Dietary Diversity and Food Consumption among People Living with HIV/AIDS

Little is known about the outcomes of food assistance targeted to food insecure people living with HIV/AIDS. Using primary data from Zambia, we estimated the impact of food assistance on the dietary diversity and consumption expenditures of households with HIV infected members receiving antiretroviral therapy. Propensity score matching estimates show that food assistance increased dietary diversity by 9.8 points (23%) mainly through the consumption of food items provided in the ration. Food assistance recipients were 20% points more likely to have acceptable food consumption and 15% points less likely to have poor food consumption than non-recipients. Food assistance also increased food consumption expenditures but had no significant impact on food purchases and total consumption expenditures. Overall, our findings demonstrate that food assistance can be an effective instrument for improving diets and enhancing the food security of people living with HIV/AIDS.