Farm tools, sometimes cattle, are sold to pay burial expenses. Mourning practices forbid farming for several days. Precious time for farm chores is lost. In the next season, unable to hire casual labour, the family plants a smaller area. Without pesticides, weeds and bugs multiply.
Children leave school to weed and harvest.
Again yields are lower. With little home-grown food and without cash to buy fish or meat, family nutrition and health suffer. If the mother becomes ill with Aids, the cycle of asset and labour loss is repeated. Families withdraw into subsistence farming. Overall production of cash crops drops.