Publishing Institution: Oxfam Publishing / Topic: Food

1. Unfarmed Now, Uninhabited When? Agriculture and climate change in Iraq

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Small-scale farmers in Iraq are among the most affected groups in Iraq by climate change and water scarcity. With the reduction of rainfall and soaring temperature, agricultural production is dropping, and farmers’ ability to cope is hindered. Affected farmers are exhausted and feel that they are left alone in the face of crisis. Many farmers are leaving their lands and looking for better opportunities away from their land and the urban areas. Duty bearers need to mobilize resources and political well to support farmers and the agricultural sector through a national strategy with clear vision on the current needs and comprehensive forecast of the impacts of climate change. While agriculture is at the heart of Iraq’s past and present, its position in the country’s future is at risk.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Food, and Farming
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

2. Lives at Risk: A study of girls dropping out of school in Juba, Rumbek and Pibor Counties, South Sudan

Author:: Lillian Rutandaro, Christine Lundambuyu Minalula, Rogers Otuta, and Manenji Mangundu
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This study was undertaken by Oxfam in three South Sudanese counties as part of the SIDA-funded project 'Building Resilience through Gender and Conflict-Sensitive Approaches to Education, Skills Development, and Sustainable Livelihoods'. Its purpose was to shed light on why so many girls drop out of school. The research revealed that women and girls often lack decision-making power over their lives. Early or forced marriage, the abduction of girls, perceptions that education delays marriage – and that educated girls risk not finding husbands – all contribute to dropout rates. Additional challenges include a lack of adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools, the distances learners need to travel, insecurity caused by communal violence, floods, food insecurity, and a heavy household work burden. The Government of South Sudan has in place laws and policies to address these issues, but they remain largely on paper and enforcement mechanisms are weak. The report analyses each of these factors in turn and presents recommendations for how the SIDA project can begin to address them in its future programming.
Topic:: Development, Education, Food, Conflict, Resilience, and Gender
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

3. Reward Work, Not Wealth: To end the Inequality Crisis, We Must Build an Economy for Ordinary Working People, not the Rich and Powerful.

Author:: Diego Alejo Vazquez Pimentel, Max Lawson, and Inigo Macias Aymar
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all wealth created in the last year went to the top 1%, and nothing went to the bottom 50%. Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few. Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful.
Topic:: Gender Issues, International Trade and Finance, Food, Health Care Policy, Inequality, Economic Growth, Tax Systems, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Global Focus

4. Development – A Private Affair? The involvement of the Italian private sector in rural development cooperation programmes

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Investment in small-scale agriculture is needed in order to meet the ambitious objective set by the United Nations and signed by the world leaders in 2015: to eradicate hunger, ensure food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030 (SDG 2). However, reaching this ambitious goal with the current level of resources committed will not be possible without concerted action on global challenges such as worsening climate change, fluctuating energy prices, diversification of diets in emerging economies and a growing pressure on natural resources such as land and water for purposes other than food. In the world today, 795 million people – one in nine people – still experience limited access to healthy and nutritious food; essential for children to develop properly and for fostering good health. Most of the people affected live in developing countries – 98 percent –and in Africa, one person in four suffers from hunger.1 Paradoxically, those who suffer from hunger are mainly farmers or people who depend on agriculture as their main source of income. To end the injustice of hunger in the world, there is therefore a need for a shared effort from public and private players, geared to allocate more and better investment for the promotion of sustainable agricultural development. In this paper, Oxfam investigates the flows of official development aid (ODA) committed by Italy in the last ten years to promoting food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development in its partner countries. The analysis aims to identify the main features of Italian ODA in this sector in order to evaluate its level of transparency and accountability. It also aims to verify the coherence, in financial terms, between the real allocation of resources and the political importance that Italy has historically assigned to food security issues. In parallel, this paper examines the involvement of Italian agri-food industries in rural development programmes financed through Italian ODA. In light of the wide- ranging debate which aims to promote a greater involvement of the private sector in development, Oxfam investigated the experience gained to date by Italy in one of the priority sectors of its development cooperation policy. The paper’s analysis focuses on three case studies featuring different modalities and objectives for private sector involvement, with the aim to assessing the impacts of their contribution in terms of the reduction of poverty and food insecurity in local communities. Oxfam’s purpose is to contribute to the ongoing national debate in Italy on the eligibility criteria that would promote private sector support for co- financed cooperation initiatives in partner countries; in line with the objectives and goals of the Italian International Development Cooperation policy.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Poverty, United Nations, Food, Hunger, and Rural
Political Geography:: Europe, Italy, and Global Focus

5. Fair Value: Case Studies of Business Structures for a More Equitable Distribution of Value in Food Supply Chains

Author:: Steve Jennings, Alex Maitland, and Erinch Sahan
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At a time when the global food system faces multiple and interlocking challenges, examining the business arrangements and structures that can lead to a more equitable distribution of value in food supply chains has never been more important. Through 12 case studies, this paper demonstrates the range of business arrangements and the diversity of ownership and governance structures that can drive more equitable outcomes. Business structures that seek to balance the interests of different stakeholder groups offer an alternative to shareholder-based models. These alternative models can significantly improve the livelihoods of the most marginalized women and men in the global food system.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Rural, Private Sector, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Global Focus

6. Resilience in Zambia: Impact evaluation of the ‘Citizen Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change’ project

Author:: Robert Fuller and Jonathan Lain
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The ‘Citizen Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change’ (CPACC) project aimed to build the resilience of farming households to climate shocks, through promoting conservation farming techniques and livelihood diversification, and through supporting disaster-planning activities and early-warning systems at the community level. This Effectiveness Review used a quasi-experimental approach to assess the impact of the project among households whose members directly participated in the project activities, in one of the three districts where the project was carried out. The results provide evidence that the project had a positive effect on the resilience of participant households, particularly through the community-level disaster preparedness activities. There is also evidence that the project had a positive impact on the adoption of conservation farming techniques, on the area of land cultivated, and on yields. However, the project does not appear to have had the positive effects it sought on engagement in non-agricultural income-generating activities, nor on participation in savings groups. There is no indication that the project had had a positive impact on households’ overall material welfare by the time of the survey.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and Zambia

7. Land But No Freedom: Debt, poverty and Human Suffering in the Philippine Banana Trade

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This case study reveals how many banana farmers in the Philippines are being pushed deeper into poverty by the companies who buy their bananas for export. While many have gained ownership of their land through the government’s land reform programme, they are now locked into contracts with banana buyers that, in Oxfam’s opinion, are grossly unjust. Without action, these one-sided deals will keep banana farmers and their families in debt for generations – while company profits continue to rise.
Topic:: Agriculture, Poverty, Food, and Farming
Political Geography:: Philippines and Indo-Pacific

8. Supermarket Responsibilities for Supply Chain Workers’ Rights: Continuing challenges in seafood supply chains and the case for stronger supermarket action

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: International food supply chains provide employment for tens of millions of women and men around the world, demonstrating the potential for private sector actors to fight poverty and inequality. Yet far too many work in appalling conditions. The ongoing challenges in seafood supply chains are illustrative of the problems that can arise and the need for stakeholders to tackle their root causes. This is one of a series of in-depth studies to supplement Oxfam’s global campaign report, Ripe for Change: Ending human suffering in supermarket supply chains. This report assesses recent progress in realizing workers’ rights in seafood supply chains originating in Southeast Asia; provides new evidence of ongoing workers’ rights challenges in US and European supermarket shrimp supply chains beginning in Indonesia and Thailand; and explores the need, in particular, to address the buyer power of supermarkets and other lead firms to squeeze value from their suppliers.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Private Sector, Farming, Labor Rights, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe, Indonesia, Asia, North America, Thailand, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

9. Human Suffering in Italy’s Agricultural Value Chain

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This case study reveals endemic economic exploitation of farm workers in Italy who supply fruit and vegetables to supermarkets across Europe. It highlights the particular vulnerability of women and migrant workers, many of whom are recruited by gangmasters and forced to live and work in inhumane conditions. Wages are deducted in return for transport, food and accommodation. Workers express fear of sexual harassment, violence and exploitation.
Topic:: Agriculture, Labor Issues, Food, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe

10. German Supermarket Supply Chains: Ending the Human Suffering Behind our Food

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is rampant across the global economy, and the agro-food sector is no exception. At the top, big supermarkets and other corporate food giants dominate global food markets, allowing them to squeeze value from vast supply chains that span the globe, while at the bottom the bargaining power of small-scale farmers and workers has been steadily eroded in many of the countries from which German supermarkets and others from around the world source. The result is widespread human suffering among the women and men producing our food.
Topic:: Agriculture, Labor Issues, Food, Private Sector, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe and Germany

11. The Plight of Pineapple and Banana Workers in Retail Supply Chains: Continuing Evidence of Rights Violations in Costa Rica and Ecuador

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This paper is based on the Sweet Fruit, Bitter Truth report published by Oxfam Germany in May 2016, which revealed violations of human and labour rights on banana and pineapple plantations in Costa Rica and Ecuador that supply or have supplied fruit to major supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl. This summarized and updated version of the report has been launched to coincide with Oxfam’s new campaign. It is one of a series of case studies to supplement the global campaign report, Ripe for Change, drawing attention to the plight of specific groups of small-scale producers and/or promoting successful alternative approaches.
Topic:: Poverty, Labor Issues, Food, and Human Rights Violations
Political Geography:: Central America, North America, Costa Rica, and Ecuador

12. Taking a Fresh Approach: Enabling Local Producers to Meet Rising Demand in West Africa’s Dairy Sector

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This case study describes the challenges facing small-scale milk producers across West Africa. Despite growth in demand for dairy products, they face significant inequalities in accessing their markets, including lack of government investment and competition from cheap imports of powdered milk from Europe. However, there are opportunities for change in the dairy sector, which could see small-scale producers gain a greater share of revenue from milk production. This paper offers recommendations for government and market interventions to support the development of local markets and help smallholders earn a decent living.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Inequality, Local, and Farming
Political Geography:: Africa and West Africa

13. Dutch Supermarket Supply Chains: Ending the Human Suffering Behind our Food

Author:: Anouk Franck and Ioan Nemes
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is rampant across the global economy, and the agro-food sector is no exception. At the top, big supermarkets and other corporate food giants dominate global food markets, allowing them to squeeze value from vast supply chains that span the globe, while at the bottom the bargaining power of small-scale farmers and workers has been steadily eroded in many of the countries from which Dutch supermarkets and others from around the world source. The result is widespread human suffering among the women and men producing our food.
Topic:: Agriculture, Markets, Food, Farming, and Supply
Political Geography:: Europe and Denmark

14. US Supermarket Supply Chains: Ending the Human Suffering Behind our Food

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is rampant across the global economy, and the agro-food sector is no exception. At the top, big supermarkets and other corporate food giants dominate global food markets, allowing them to squeeze value from vast supply chains that span the globe, while at the bottom the bargaining power of small-scale farmers and workers has been steadily eroded in many of the countries from which US supermarkets and others from around the world source. The result is widespread human suffering among the women and men producing our food.
Topic:: Markets, Food, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

15. UK Supermarket Supply Chains: Ending the Human Suffering Behind our Food

Author:: Rachel Wilshaw
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is rampant across the global economy, and the agro-food sector is no exception. At the top, big supermarkets and other corporate food giants dominate global food markets, allowing them to squeeze value from vast supply chains that span the globe, while at the bottom the bargaining power of small-scale farmers and workers has been steadily eroded in many of the countries from which UK supermarkets and others from around the world source. The result is widespread human suffering among the women and men producing our food.
Topic:: Markets, Food, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

16. The Influence of Market Support Interventions on Household Food Security: An evidence synthesis

Author:: Helene Juillard, Rebecca Lewin, Lili Mohiddin, Marion Pechayre, and Gabrielle Smith
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: There is growing consensus on the need to consider and support markets as part of humanitarian responses. It is assumed that this support will increase the impact of responses – yet to date such assumptions are rarely supported by data and strong evidence. This evidence synthesis, commissioned by the Humanitarian Evidence Programme and carried out by a team of independent and multidisciplinary consultants, represents the first ever attempt to identify, synthesize and evaluate the existing evidence on the influence of market support interventions on household food security in humanitarian crises. It is accompanied by a stand-alone executive summary and evidence brief.
Topic:: Markets, Food, Humanitarian Crisis, and Nutrition
Political Geography:: Global Focus

17. Missing Out on Small is Beautiful: The EU’s Failure to Deliver on Policy Commitments to Support Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries

Author:: Jan Mayrhofer and Hanna Saarinen
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: With the world on the brink of an unprecedented four famines, donor countries must urgently step up efforts to tackle the structural causes of hunger and poverty. Food security and sustainable agriculture are among the European Union’s key priorities for development cooperation. The EU is committed to long-term solutions, including empowering smallholders, in particular women, and supporting environmentally sustainable approaches in agriculture. In practice, however, its development aid to the agricultural sector does not live up to its commitments. An Oxfam analysis of more than 7,500 EU-funded projects reveals a significant lack of transparency in reporting, casting doubt on the accountability of the EU’s aid. Based on the reported data, only a small portion of the EU’s agricultural development aid complies with the aim of targeting small-scale producers and women. Funding is also biased towards industrial and export crops and countries of strategic interest, at the expense of smallholders and countries most in need.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Regional Cooperation, Food, and European Union
Political Geography:: Europe

18. Measuring Impact: A Meta-Analysis of Oxfam’s Livelihoods Effectiveness Reviews

Author:: Rob Fuller
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This paper presents the results of a meta-analysis examining the overall impact of 23 livelihoods projects evaluated as part of Oxfam GB’s Effectiveness Reviews between 2011 and 2016. Results show a statistically significant, positive impact on the welfare of participants, measured by household consumption and wealth. Analysis indicates an increase in household consumption of approximately 6.6% (95% confidence interval from 1.6% to 11.9%). While some projects had more positive results than others, these differences are not explained by regions, whether the country has lower-income or middle-income status, whether households were initially poorer than average, nor by project scale, budget or duration. However, there is some evidence that female-headed households have tended to benefit less from the projects than male-headed households. Projects that targeted a specific agricultural product or products (such as vegetables, coffee or dairy production) were generally found to be successful in promoting production and sales.
Topic:: Agriculture, Gender Issues, Food, Economic Growth, Farming, and Empowerment
Political Geography:: Global Focus

19. The Impact of Food Assistance on Pastoralist Livelihoods in Humanitarian Crises: An evidence synthesis protocol

Author:: Karol Czuba and Tyler O'Niell
Publication Date:: 06-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This protocol outlines plans for conducting an evidence synthesis on the impact of food aid on pastoralist livelihoods. The distinctiveness of pastoralists - including factors related to the erosion of their livelihood strategies and the difficulty posed by identification of frequently mobile households - and their particular vulnerability to humanitarian crises suggest that the effects of humanitarian interventions targeting them are likely to differ from other populations. The purpose of this review is to use evidence synthesis methods to: systematically identify all available evidence on the impact of food assistance to pastoralist livelihoods (during and after) a humanitarian crisis; compare and contrast the effects of assistance delivered (by population, assistance type etc.); qualitatively and (if possible) quantitatively synthesize identified data and concepts; assess the quality of evidence, as appropriate; and identify gaps in the current evidence-base and further comment on future research needs in this space. To the review team's knowledge, this will be the first evidence synthesis that specifically addresses the impacts of food assistance provided in the context of humanitarian interventions on pastoralists' livelihoods. This review is commissioned under the Humanitarian Evidence Programme, a UK Aid-funded partnership between Oxfam and Feinstein International Center that aims to improve humanitarian policy and practice.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid, Food, Food Security, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Global Focus

20. Feeding Climate Change: What the Paris Agreement means for food and beverage companies

Author:: Tim Gore and Rebecca Pearl-Martinez
Publication Date:: 06-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Paris Agreement marked a major breakthrough in support for climate action from many parts of the business community, including from key actors in the food and beverage sector. But despite significant progress, much work remains both to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to support the millions of people already hit by climate change. As one of the sectors that is at highest risk of being affected by climate change, responsible for a giant emissions footprint and reliant on millions of small-scale farmers and agricultural workers in the regions most vulnerable to climate change, the food and beverage sector should lead the next generation of post-Paris corporate climate commitments. This paper presents new data commissioned from the research consultancy CE Delft on the greenhouse gas emissions footprints and water scarcity footprints of major food commodities. The data demonstrate the vital role the food and beverage industry can and must play in turning the Paris Agreement into a springboard for the stronger climate action needed.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Food, and Food Security
Political Geography:: Global Focus

21. Harmless Harvest: How sustainable agriculture can help ASEAN countries adapt to a changing climate

Author:: Maria Dolores Bernabe
Publication Date:: 05-2015
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: A better way of growing food is the best bet against climate change for Southeast Asia's small-scale food producers. Sustainable agriculture - agriculture that can meet the needs of present and future generations, ensures the efficient production of safe, high-quality agricultural products in a way that protects the natural environment, and improves on the economic conditions of farmers and local communities - offers the best chances for countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deal with climate change. By scaling-up sustainable agricultural practices across the region, ASEAN can help feed its peoples and support the livelihoods of small-scale food producers, and help curb greenhouse gas emissions to push back impending catastrophe.
Topic:: Agriculture, Environment, Regional Cooperation, and Food
Political Geography:: Asia and Southeast Asia

22. Reversal in Progress on World Hunger Likely as Climate Change Threatens Food Security

Author:: Tim Gore
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: New evidence of how climate change could damage food security is presented in a major new scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Food

23. Hot and Hungry: How to stop climate change derailing the fight against hunger

Author:: Anna Ratcliff
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Hunger is not and need never be inevitable. However climate change threatens to put back the fight to eradicate it by decades – and our global food system is woefully unprepared to cope with the challenge.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Food

24. Effective Public Policies and Active Citizenship: Brazil's experience of building a food and nutrition security system

Author:: Marília Leão and Renato S. Maluf
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Brazil has achieved promising results in the fight against hunger and poverty. This paper describes the path toward building a new governance framework for the provision of public policies that initiated a virtuous cycle for the progressive elimination of hunger and poverty. However, it is important to emphasize that the country continues to be characterized by dynamics that generate inequalities and threaten social and environmental justice.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Poverty, Food, and Governance
Political Geography:: Brazil and Latin America

25. Rebuilding Fishing Communities and Fisheries: Post-Haiyan Reconstruction in the Philippines

Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Fishing communities, many of whom live in poverty, have been hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda). The UN estimates that 30,000 boats have been damaged or destroyed and nearly three-quarters of fishing communities have been severely affected, losing crucial equipment such as boats, nets, and cages.
Topic:: Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Food
Political Geography:: Philippines

26. Smallholders at Risk: Monoculture expansion, land, food and livelihoods in Latin America

Publication Date:: 04-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Greater investment in agriculture is needed to reduce rural poverty and improve food security. This means not simply increasing supply but ensuring that adequate, nutritious food is accessible to every person at all times. How investment is made, its context and conditions, is at least as important as how much is invested.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:: South America and Latin America

27. Who Wants to Farm? Youth Aspirations, Opportunities and Rising Food Prices

Author:: Jennifer Leavy and Naomi Hossain
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Who wants to farm? In an era of land grabs and environmental uncertainty, improving smallholder productivity has become a higher priority on the poverty and food security agenda in development, focusing attention on the next generation of farmers. Yet emerging evidence about the material realities and social norms and desires of young people in developing countries indicates a reasonably widespread withdrawal from work on the land as an emerging norm. While de-agrarianisation is not new, policymakers are correct to be concerned about a withdrawal from the sector: smallholder productivity growth, and agricultural transformation more broadly, depend in part on the extent to which capable, skilled young people can be retained or attracted to farming, and on policies that support that retention. So who wants to farm, and under what conditions? Where are economic, environmental and social conditions favourable to active recruitment by educated young people into farming? What policy and programmatic conditions are creating attractive opportunities in farming or agro-food industry livelihoods?
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and Latin America

28. Climate Shocks, Food and Nutrition Security: Evidence from the Young Lives cohort study

Author:: Dornan Paul, Ogando Portela, Maria Jose, and Pells Kirrily
Publication Date:: 09-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Drawing on survey data from Young Lives, an international study of childhood poverty involving 12,000 children in four countries, this paper examines the effects of environmental shocks on food insecurity and children‟s development. The data, from children and their families living in rural and urban locations in Ethiopia, the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Peru , and Vietnam , provide information on the same individuals over time, allowing consideration of how earlier incidences of food insecurity and exposures to environmental shocks shape later outcomes. Regression analysis is used to estimate the relationships between these and other relevant factors.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Human Welfare, and Food
Political Geography:: India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Andhra Pradesh, and Peru

29. A Sign of Things to Come? Examining four major climate-related disasters, 2010–2013, and their impacts on food security

Author:: Coghlan Christopher, Muzammil Maliha, Ingram John, Vervoort Joost, Otto Friederike, and James Rachel
Publication Date:: 09-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: From 2010 to 2013 the world experienced a number of extreme weather events, several of which were notable for their intensity, duration, and impacts on livelihoods and food security. This report focuses on four case studies – a heat wave in Russia, flooding in Pakistan, drought in East Africa, and a typhoon in the Philippines – that represent a range of extreme weather. It analyses the impact of these extreme weather events on food security, by considering when and why threats emerge. This involves characterization of the weather events, examination of the vulnerable groups affected, and analysis of livelihoods and the role of governance and capital.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Africa, Russia, and Philippines

30. Delivering Prosperity in Myanmar's Dryzone: Lessons from Mandalay and Magwe on realizing the economic potential of small-scale farmers

Author:: Jodie Thorpe
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Myanmar is undergoing intense and rapid changes. Policies formulated today will determine the future path of political and economic development. Modernization of the country's agricultural sector is, rightly, a priority. However, mechanization and large–scale agricultural investment is not the only option. Small farm development provides a commercially viable option with better outcomes in terms of poverty reduction and positive impacts on other sectors. Small farms absorb labour, allow communities to build assets and help local markets flourish. It is crucial that Myanmar promotes the right type of agricultural investment – that which supports the country's millions of small-scale farmers and farm labourers, as well as their families.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:: Myanmar

31. Moral Hazard? 'Mega' public-private partnerships in African agriculture

Author:: Robin Willoughby
Publication Date:: 09-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: After decades of underinvestment in agriculture, African governments are rightly looking at how best to mobilize funding for the sector. Donors in turn are keen to reverse a trend of neglect and to support initiatives that are simultaneously likely to enhance productivity, improve livelihoods and increase private sector investment. Private investors, concurrently, are looking for new consumer markets and production opportunities in Africa.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Famine, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa

32. Food prices and how people are eating: Views from 'Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility'

Author:: Nick Chisholm
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: On food prices: The case studies on food prices and how people are eating in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Pakistan confirm that price changes, and the impacts of such changes on households, are far more varied in space and time than national average data reveal. In turn, national price movements can clearly diverge from global prices due to a variety of country - specific factors. The case studies also demonstrate that politics and policies have a significant impact on prices: governments can directly (for good or ill) influence the wellbeing of the poor thro ugh decisions on policy instruments such as taxation and levels of subsidies. Finally, there is some evidence that prices in rural agricultural areas are more influenced by seasonal supply and demand factors than are prices in urban areas. In principle, rural producers may benefit from higher prices, but that is not usually the case for small producers, who are still net consumers of basic food commodities.
Topic:: Food
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Vietnam

33. Hidden Hunger in South Africa: The faces of hunger and malnutrition in a food-secure nation

Author:: Yared Teka Tsegay, Masiiwa Rusare, and Rashmi Mistry
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: South Africa is considered a 'food-secure' nation, producing enough calories to adequately feed every one of its 53 million people. However, the reality is that, despite some progress since the birth of democracy in 1994, one in four people currently suffers hunger on a regular basis and more than half of the population live in such precarious circumstances that they are at risk of going hungry.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: South Africa

34. From Crisis to Catastrophe: South Sudan's man-made crisis — and how the world must act now to prevent catastrophe in 2015

Author:: Isabel Martins
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: South Sudan is facing the world's worst food crisis, driven by the conflict that erupted in December 2013. Unless there is an end to the fighting, this food crisis will continue. Without far stronger international pressure, the conflict is unlikely to be resolved. International diplomacy – as well as aid and the protection of civilians on the ground – is urgently needed.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Humanitarian Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and Sudan

35. Impacto De La Roya Del Café

Author:: Alberto Vargas
Publication Date:: 12-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Muchas de las comunidades de El Salvador tienen una baja resiliencia (su capacidad de enfrentar y recuperarse de los efectos de los desastres es muy limitada). Existen comunidades que a causa del cambio climático están enfrentando diversos eventos cada uno o dos años.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Health, Human Welfare, and Food
Political Geography:: South America

36. Climate and Environmental Change: Views from Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility

Author:: Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: How are rapid recent food price changes linked to climate and environmental change? How do people who are vulnerable to these changes view these links? This note explores the views of people living on low and precarious incomes on these connections, based on research designed to explore experiences of food price volatility in 2012, through qualitative research in 23 research sites in 10 countries. The research was not specifically designed to study perceptions of climate and environmental change; these views are collected here because they offer interesting, relatively unmediated insights into how people perceive the causal connections between their food security and environment across varied social and ecological settings.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Food

37. Inequality in South Africa: A two part document on the current understanding and dimensions of inequality in health, gender and livelihoods

Author:: Nicola Deghaye, Tamlyn McKenzie, and Petronella Chirawu
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Recognising inequality is at the heart of the South African 'development problem', Oxfam commissioned the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD) to produce this report, which is divided into two parts, to enable an understanding of the dimensions of inequality in South Africa and to provide Oxfam with a set of basic measures against which it could measure its success in dealing with inequality.
Topic:: Security, Gender Issues, Health, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

38. After the Drought: The 2012 drought, Russian farmers, and the challenges of adapting to extreme weather events

Author:: Daria Ukhova
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Extreme weather events are becoming more and more common in Russia. The 2012 summer drought, which came so soon after the devastating drought of 2010, is just one confirmation of this trend. According to the 2012 annual report of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), 2012 saw a record number of extreme weather events. In the period May to June 2012, the number of extreme weather events increased by 65 per cent compared with the same period in 2011, and were roughly on par with the number of events that occurred in the same period in 2010.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Food
Political Geography:: Russia

39. THE NEW ALLIANCE: A NEW DIRECTION NEEDED Reforming the G8's public–private partnership on agriculture and food security

Author:: Eric Munoz
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The past decade has witnessed a resurgence of interest in investing in agriculture. In 2003, heads of state from across Africa committed to allocate at least 10 per cent of their national budgets on an annual basis to agriculture and, through their commitment to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), to reduce poverty through agriculture-led growth.1 More recently, at the 2009 G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, world leaders responded to the global spike in food prices by pledging to provide $22bn over three years to promote food security in developing countries.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Demographics, Development, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

40. Growing disruption: Climate change, food, and the fight against hunger

Author:: John Magrath and Tracy Carty
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This briefing paper explores how the failure to tackle climate change threatens all aspects of food security – availability, access, utilisation, and stability. The changing climate is already jeopardising gains in the fight against hunger, and it looks set to worsen. It threatens the production and distribution of food. It threatens people's ability to access food by undermining livelihoods and destabilising prices, and it damages diets by harming human health and putting at risk the quality of food produced. Finally, the paper sets out how these impacts can be averted, through urgent action to avoid dangerous climate change, address our broken food system, and strengthen its resilience.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Environment, Poverty, and Food

41. Better Rules for a Better Future: Regulating private sector agriculture

Author:: Maria Dolores Bernabe
Publication Date:: 11-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The ASEAN Investment Report for 2011 considers 2010 as an important year for the region in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. FDIs in ASEAN for the said year reached a record high of US 75.8 million dollars, nearly double the inflows in 2009. Included in these FDIs were private sector investments in agriculture, as Southeast Asia has become one of the most favored destinations of large-scale agricultural land investments.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Gender Issues, Food, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Southeast Asia

42. Planting Now (2nd Edition): Revitalizing agriculture for reconstruction and development in Haiti

Author:: Tonny Joseph
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 exacerbated the country's grinding poverty and serious development problems, while at the same time worsening Haitian living conditions. The tremor killed over 250,000 people and injured 300, 000. It crippled the economy, causing losses estimated at almost 120 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Nevertheless, economic growth is expected to rise between 7 and 9 percent in 2012, largely owing to reconstruction efforts. The population in internally displaced persons camps has decreased from 1.5 million to around 390,000 (according to the June 2012 report of the International Organization for Migration), and the country's hurricane preparedness capacity has increased.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Gender Issues, Government, Food, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Caribbean and Haiti

43. 'Our Land, Our Lives': Time out on the global land rush

Author:: Kate Geary
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Today, stories of communities driven from their lands, often at the barrel of a gun, left destitute and unable to feed their families, have become all too familiar . As the scale and pace of large - scale land acquisitions increases globally, evidence is mounting that the land rush is out of control and that the price being paid by affected communities is unacceptably high. A huge amount of land has been sold off or leased out globally in the past decade: an area eight times the size of the UK. In poor countries , foreign investors bought up an area of land the size of London every six days between 2000 and 2010. Commercial interest in land could accelerate once again as recent food price spikes motivate rich countries to secure their own food supplies and make land a more secure and attractive option for investors and speculators. The 2008 boom in food prices is widely recognized as having triggered a surge in investor interest in land : from mid - 2008 – 2009 reported agricultural land deals by foreign investors in developing countries rocketed by around 200 per cent .
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Poverty, Natural Resources, Territorial Disputes, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and United Kingdom

44. What Works for Women: Proven approaches for empowering women smallholders and achieving food security

Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: What changes do we need to empower women smallholders and achieve food security? This question has been asked repeatedly over the past several decades, but transformative changes in both public policy and practice have been few and far between. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), closing the „gender gap‟ in agriculture –or increasing women‟s contribution to food production and enterprise by providing equal access to resources and opportunities –could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 per cent, or by 100 to 150 million people.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Gender Issues, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: United Nations

45. Sahel Markets Under Pressure

Author:: Jean Denis Crola
Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Harvests in Africa's Sahel region from the 2011/12 season are down sharply compared with last year and have been later than usual, extending the previous 'hunger gap' period. A further aggravating factor for the people of the region is that local grain prices failed to drop as they generally do in the period after the harvest. In December 2011, prices reached levels that were 80% above their five-year averages and remained at high levels, compromising access to adequate food for vulnerable populations. Together with the main agencies involved in the crisis, Oxfam, ROPPA, RBM, APESS, POSCAO and WILDAF estimate that more than 18 million people are currently in a situation of food insecurity in the Sahel.
Topic:: Agriculture, Demographics, Poverty, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Africa

46. Where There's a Will: Tackling the humanitarian crisis in Yemen

Author:: Abigael Baldoumas and Kelly Gilbride
Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Yemeni people are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis with more than ten million–44 per cent of the population–facing food insecurity. With the onset of the hunger season, many families have exhausted their coping strategies and are being driven deeper into poverty. Donors remain deeply divided over their approaches to the region's poorest country, thus delaying responses and hindering funding. As the crisis builds, donors must take steps to address immediate humanitarian needs as well as making long term commitments to promote development. The Friends of Yemen ministerial meeting in Riyadh offers a critical opportunity for donors to be decisive, creative and generous if they are to break the cycle of hunger and poverty in Yemen. Yemen's future depends upon reducing people's vulnerability and building resilience for the long term, breaking the hunger cycle and empowering people to realize their potential. Failure to act now will put more lives at risk and further entrench poverty in the country.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Middle East, Yemen, and Arabia

47. Food Crisis in the Sahel: Five steps to break the hunger cycle in 2012

Author:: Stephen Cockburn
Publication Date:: 04-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Ever since the first warnings of drought and poor harvests in Africa's Sahel region emerged in late 2011, vulnerable communities in many areas of the region have been threatened by a looming food crisis. That crisis is now real, and 18.4 million people in nine countries are vulnerable to its impact. Food stocks have already run out for some communities, and are running dangerously low for others. Support to protect lives and livelihoods is urgently needed as the crisis becomes an emergency.
Topic:: Security, Markets, Non-Governmental Organization, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

48. Private Investment in Agriculture: Why it's essential, and what's needed

Author:: Erinch Sahan and Monique Mikhail
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Massive investment in agriculture is desperately needed to help fix the broken food system. Private sector investment can play a vital role in delivering inclusive economic growth, environmental sustainability and poverty reduction. However, in order to do so, it must be adequately regulated and should adhere to some key principles, such as focusing on local food markets, working with producer organisations and respecting the rights of small-scale producers, workers and communities.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Development, Environment, Poverty, and Food

49. The Hunger Grains: The fight is on. Time to scrap EU biofuel mandates.

Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 2009, EU governments committed to sourcing 10 per cent of transport energy from renewable sources by 2020: they are set to meet this target almost exclusively using biofuels made from food crops. By putting a mandate in place, European governments are propping up powerful industry and farming lobbies without spending a penny from national budgets: as direct subsidies and tax exemptions are phased out, the cost is increasingly borne by the consumer. For example, by 2020 biofuel mandates are likely to cost UK consumers between £1bn and £2bn more each year—that's about £35 from every adult—and to cost German consumers between €1.37bn and €2.15bn more—up to €30 per adult. EU governments have replaced subsidies paid out of the public purse with a subsidy that consumers, often without their knowledge, pay directly to big business.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Development, Energy Policy, and Food
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, and Germany

50. Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices: The costs of feeding a warming world

Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Climate change is making extreme weather – like droughts, floods and heat waves – much more likely. As the 2012 drought in the US shows, extreme weather means extreme food prices. Our failure to slash greenhouse gas emissions presents a future of greater food price volatility, with severe consequences for the precarious lives and livelihoods of people in poverty.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:: United States

51. Cereal Secrets: The world's largest grain traders and global agriculture

Author:: Jennifer Clapp, Sophia Murphy, and David Burch
Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report is composed of two parts. The first introduces the four big commodity traders – Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus – which are the focus of this study. Collectively, these trading companies are often referred to as 'the ABCD companies' because of the coincidence of their initials. Part 2 then looks at these traders in relation to a number of the global issues pressing on agriculture: the 'financialization' of both commodity trade and agricultural production; the emergence of global competitors to the ABCDs, in particular from Asia; and some of the implications of large-scale industrial biofuels, a sector in which the ABCDs are closely involved. It includes a discussion of how smallholders in developing countries are affected by some of these changes, and highlights some development policy implications, given the importance of the ABCDs in shaping the world of food and agriculture.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Asia

52. You Have Been Warned: One year on from UN declaration of famine, Somalia faces worsening food crisis

Author:: Roger Middleton
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 2011 the world waited for the UN to declare famine before providing assistance on the level needed to save lives in Somalia – this delayed response wasted lives and money. We are now seeing warnings of Somalia slipping back into crisis and cannot afford to make the same mistake again – we should respond now, and in force, in ways that make people better able to withstand the next disaster to strike.
Topic:: Security, Health, Islam, United Nations, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Africa and Somalia

53. Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Progress Report, July 2011 - July 2012

Author:: Sophie Mack Smith
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The 2011 drought across the Horn of Africa was, in some places, the worst to hit the region for 60 years. It was first predicted about a year beforehand, when sophisticated regional early warning systems began to alert the world to the possibility of drier-than-normal conditions in key pastoral areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Northern Kenya, linked to the effects of the climatic phenomenon La Niña.
Topic:: Security, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia

54. Ethiopia's Sesame Sector: The contribution of different farming models to poverty alleviation, climate resilience and women's empowerment

Author:: Genia Kostka and Jenny Scharrer
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The key findings of this report are that sesame is a suitable crop for poverty alleviation for smallholders in Benishangul Gumuz and that the smallholder model is competitive versus the large-scale investor model in terms of productivity. Farmers can achieve high profits without significant up-front investments. With minimal expenditure for sesame seeds and some simple equipment for ploughing, weeding and harvesting, farmers can cultivate sesame on a family labor basis. Potential income is higher in the smallholder model than from either communal land management, or from the salaries from large-scale investors (see Figure 1) However, this potential is mirrored by the highest risk for farmers to receive the lowest income. Smallholders can mitigate this risk as well as increase their income further through membership of primary production co-operatives that offer higher sales prices and paid-out dividends.
Topic:: Agriculture, Gender Issues, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Ethiopia

55. East Africa Food Crisis: Poor rains, poor response

Author:: Elise Ford
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: East Africa is facing the worst food crisis of the 21st Century. Across Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, 12 million people are in dire need of food, clean water, and basic sanitation. Loss of life on a massive scale is a very real risk, and the crisis is set to worsen over the coming months, particularly for pastoralist communities.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Food
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia

56. The Impact of Russia's 2010 Grain Export Ban

Author:: George Welton
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: One of the key factors in global food price volatility is the way that states react to disruptions in supply. There is a strong inclination for exporters to impose export bans in reaction to potential food price increases in their own country. This reaction, however, is a poor strategy for managing food prices at home and has a range of unintended consequences for the domestic and international economy. In general, export bans exacerbate problems created by interruptions in food production and may damage incentives to increase production at home long - term.
Topic:: Agriculture, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:: Russia

57. Not a Game, Speculation vs Food Security: Regulating financial markets to grow a better future

Author:: Marc-Olivier Herman, Ruth Kelly, and Robert Nash
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Food prices are a matter of life and death to many in the developing world. Financial markets that should be helping food growers and processors to manage their risk and set prices have become a potential threat to global food security. Deregulated and secretive agricultural commodity derivatives markets have attracted huge sums of speculative money, and there is growing evidence that they deliver distorted and unpredictable food prices. Financial speculation can play an important role to help food producers and end users manage risks, but in light of the harm that excessive speculation may cause to millions, action is required now to address the problem. This briefing explains what has gone wrong with financial markets and what could be done to fix them.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:: Europe

58. Disaster Risk Reduction – Fundamental to saving lives and reducing poverty

Author:: Debbie Hillier
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: East Africa is facing the worst food crisis of the 21st Century. Across Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, over 12 million people are in dire need of food, clean water, basic sanitation and shelter. Suffering and death are already happening on a massive scale, and the situation will worsen over the coming months.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia

59. Weathering the Crises, Feeding the Future: Philippine food justice report

Author:: Jeanne Frances Illo and Dante Dalabajan
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At the height of the food price crisis in 2008, the Philippines was among the countries with "severe localized food insecurity" requiring external assistance in food.3 A series of severe weatherrelated events occurred in 2009 with the total damage to the economy exceeding 100 bn pesos-more than twice the amount allocated for agriculture that year. Rice imports reached an all-time high of 2.45 million metric tons in 2010, making the Philippines the biggest rice importing country in the world that year.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Israel and Philippines

60. Land and Power: The growing scandal surrounding the new wave of investments in land

Author:: Bertram Zagema
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: International investment plays a vital role in development and poverty reduction. Investment can improve livelihoods and bring jobs, services, and infrastructure, when it is managed responsibly within the context of an effective regulatory framework. Oxfam sees this every day in its work and, in some cases, is working collaboratively with businesses to promote investments that directly benefit poor communities. The recent record of investment in land is very different. It tells a story of rapidly increasing pressure on land – a natural resource upon which the food security of millions of people living in poverty depends. Too many investments have resulted in dispossession, deception, violation of human rights, and destruction of livelihoods. Without national and international measures to defend the rights of people living in poverty, this modern-day land-rush looks set to leave too many poor families worse off, often evicted from their land with little or no recourse to justice.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Western Europe

61. Yemen: Fragile lives in hungry times

Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The promise of what came to be known as the Arab Spring, which dawned in North Africa, sweeping into the Arabian Gulf and up through the Middle East, has foundered in Yemen. Political turmoil has taken hold and reform has stalled, sparking renewed insecurity, devastating an already frail economy, and triggering a national fuel crisis that has in turn driven rising levels of hunger. Levels of child malnutrition in some regions are among the worst in the world. While billions of dollars have been donated to Tunisia, Libya, and to a lesser extent Egypt to rebuild their economies, Yemenis are facing chronic hunger and have few resources at their disposal. While the eyes of the world are on other countries experiencing major upheaval, Yemen must not be forgotten. Leaving the country to simmer and collapse in slow motion will lead to far greater humanitarian and security concerns.
Topic:: Poverty, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Middle East, Norway, Yemen, Arabia, United Nations, and Egypt

62. Investir dans l'agriculture au Burundi: Indispensable pour combattre l'insécurité alimentaire et améliorer les conditions de vie des femmes paysannes

Author:: Paula San Pedro
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: L'agriculture est vitale pour le Burundi. C' est le pilier de l'économie qui emploie 90 % de la population, fournit 95% de l'offre alim entaire, contribue à presque 35% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) et représente 90% des re cettes d'exportation grâce à la vente de café et de thé. 1 Néanmoins, le développement de ce secteur est fortement volatil car il dépend de conditions météorologiques très variabl es, de prix internationaux fluctuants et d'une stabilité politique très fragile.
Topic:: Agriculture, Gender Issues, Political Economy, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

63. Climate change: Beyond coping. Women smallholder farmers in Tajikistan

Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Evidence from scientific research and from previous qualitative research into the experiences of farmers in Tajikistan makes it clear that climate change is already impacting the country and the lives of people from rural Tajikistan.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Central Asia and Tajikistan

64. Growing a Better Future: Food justice in a resource-constrained world

Author:: Robert Bailey
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Niger is the epicentre of hunger. Here, it is chronic. Corrosive. Structural. Systemic. Over 65 per cent of people survive on less than $1.25 a day. Nearly one in two children is malnourished. One in six dies before they reach the age of five.
Topic:: Agriculture, Poverty, and Food

65. Averting Tomorrow's Global Food Crisis: The European Union's role in delivering food justice in a resource-constrained world

Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Why, in a world that produces more than enough food to feed everybody, do so many – one in seven – go hungry? Oxfam's new global campaign, GROW, seeks answers to this question. GROW aims to transform the way we grow, share, and live together. GROW will expose the failing governments and powerful business interests that are propping up a broken food system and sleepwalking the world into an unprecedented and avoidable reversal in human development.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Europe

66. Exploring Food Price Scenarios Towards 2030 With a Global Multi-Region Model

Author:: Dirk Willenbockel
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report is a contribution to the Oxfam report: 'Growing a Better Future'. It explores a range of scenarios for food price increases to 2030 through the GLOBE model. Over and above providing a global perspective, the research provides disaggregated results for a range of countries and country groups identified by Oxfam.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Economics, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

67. Governance for a Resilient Food System

Author:: Alex Evans
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Today, the world produces enough to feed all seven billion of its inhabitants - but nearly a billion people still go without. This paper is about why this global scandal continues, and what can be done to solve it. Its central argument is that access to food is as important as how much food is produced - and that in a world of food price volatility, climate change and other kinds of shocks and stresses, the challenge of building resilience in the food system takes on overwhelming importance.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Poverty, and Food

68. Combating Rural Poverty and Hunger Through Agroforestry in Bolivia

Author:: Kate Kilpatrick
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In contrast to intensive agricultural practices that require widespread forest clearing, agroforestry systems combine tree growing with the production of other crops or animals. By promoting tree planting, biodiversity, and long-term resource husbandry, agroforestry can be an economically and environmentally sustainable option for small-scale farmers who are struggling to combat the impacts of climate change. For hungry and food-insecure communities, agroforestry creates more resilient agricultural systems where the risk of crop failure is spread between diverse crops.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Economics, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Latin America and Bolivia

69. The Struggle for a Pro-Poor Food Policy in Guatemala

Author:: Kate Kilpatrick
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The 2008 food price crisis had a devastating impact on poor Guatemalans. This was followed by widespread crop failure and a food emergency in 2009, affecting an estimated 2.5 million people (de Schutter 2010). With a heavy reliance on imported staple grains and the most productive lands allocated to export crops, Guatemala's food system is broken.
Topic:: Agriculture, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Latin America and Guatemala

70. Improving Food Security for Vulnerable Communities in Nepal

Author:: Kate Kilpatrick
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations, with 31 per cent of its 28 million-population living below the poverty line. Chronic food insecurity and hunger are part of daily life for millions of Nepalis. For families living in Nepal's remote mountain regions in particular, getting access to sufficient food is a daily struggle. Climate change is making the situation worse.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, and Food
Political Geography:: South Asia, Asia, and Nepal

71. Sleeping Lions: Tratados internacionales de inversión, conflictos Estado-inversor y acceso a alimentos, tierra y agua

Author:: Javier Perez, Myriam Gistelinck, and Dima Karbala
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: La gestión y el acceso a la tierra y el agua son clave para asegurar la seguridad alimentaria y la reducción de la pobreza. En los próximos años, esta importancia irá en aumento. Sin embargo, estos recursos naturales a menudo se convierten en objeto de importantes conflictos de poder entre empresas, Estados y comunidades. Estos conflictos no tienen lugar en el seno de un vacío institucional, sino que los gobiernos nacionales y las instituciones internacionales son los responsables de diseñar el escenario en el cual operan estos distintos intereses. Las normas nacionales e internacionales permiten a las empresas invertir en tierras, agua y otros recursos naturales tanto en sus propios países como en el extranjero.
Topic:: Security, Poverty, Power Politics, Natural Resources, and Food

72. Walking the Talk: Cash transfers and gender dynamics

Author:: Carol Brady
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Concern Worldwide (Concern) and Oxfam GB (Oxfam) jointly commissioned this report to look at the impacts of cash transfers (CTs) on gender dynamics both within households and communities. This report was commissioned because of the agencies' concerns that while CTs, now being used in many different emergency contexts, are expected to benefit women and contribute towards their empowerment, there was little evidence being collected to see whether this was in fact happening. The learning from this report will inform future gender sensitive CT programmes.
Topic:: Security, Economics, Gender Issues, and Food
Political Geography:: Kenya, Indonesia, and Zimbabwe

73. Who will feed the World? The production challenge

Author:: Lucia Wegner and Gine Zwart
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Against a background of increasing food insecurity, agriculture in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation in order to increase production and respond to climate change. It is estimated that feeding 8.2 billion people – an additional 1.4 billion – in 2030 would require raising overall food production by some 50 per cent between 2005/07 and 2030. Feeding a larger urban population in a context of increasing scarcity of land and water, while also adopting more sustainable production methods, is a daunting challenge. In Africa, where it is predicted that population levels will double during the same period, the challenge will be even more acute.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Poverty, Science and Technology, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Africa

74. Think big. Go small. Adapting business models to incorporate smallholders into supply chains

Author:: David Bright, Don Seville, and Lea BorkenHagen
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Incorporating smallholders into the supply chain allows a company to tell consumers how their purchasing choices can improve the lives of men and women farmers. Companies that incorporate smallholders equitably into their supply chains – and communicate their action through their brands – can capture new customers and gain greater loyalty from existing ones.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, Third World, and Food
Political Geography:: United Kingdom

75. The Making of a Seoul Development: Consensus The essential development agenda for the G20

Author:: Jasmine Burnley and Elizabeth Stuart
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: When the G20 meets in Seoul in November 2010, it has a big choice to make. It can either retreat into a narrow focus on its own interests, or it can prove it is capable of genuine global leadership in the face of the interlinked economic, food, and climate change crises. The G20 must adopt a Seoul 'development consensus' that confronts the challenges of the 21st century: reducing inequality and tackling global poverty through sustainable, equitable growth that gives poor women and men, and their governments, the tools they need to overcome poverty.
Topic:: Development, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Israel, Asia, and South Korea

76. Agricultural challenges and opportunities for Haiti's reconstruction

Author:: Marc Cohen
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The massive earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010 devastated rural areas as well as urban, destroying crops, farm buildings, equipment, and infrastructure. Indirect effects touched almost every corner of the nation, as 600,000 people migrated to the countryside, increasing pressure on already stretched food and fuel resources. Internal displacement worsened food insecurity, which affected six out of ten people even before the disaster.
Topic:: Development, Disaster Relief, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Caribbean

77. Hunger in the Sahel: A permanent emergency? Ensuring the next drought will not cause another humanitarian crisis

Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 2010, more than 10 million people, mainly women and children, were victims of the food crisis in the Sahel. Nearly 500,000 severely malnourished children were taken into care between January and November 2010 in Niger, Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso. Most livestock in the Sahel was decimated. The images and the stories of hunger harked back to the food crisis of 2005 and the famines in 1973-1974 and 1984-1985.
Topic:: Agriculture, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

78. Band Aids and Beyond: Tackling disasters in Ethiopia 25 years after the famine

Author:: Nick Martlew
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 1984, one million Ethiopians died during a catastrophic famine. The government at the time hid the scale of hunger until a shocking BBC television report ignited a massive relief effort, supported by the Band Aid movement. Though this was too late for too many, thousands of lives were saved.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

79. Harnessing Agriculture for Development

Author:: Arabella Fraser
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Harnessing Agriculture for Development is the result of a process of research and consultation conducted within Oxfam International from the end of 2007 to mid 2008, before the full impact of the current financial crisis was felt across the developing world. It is being published at a time when we face a particularly uncertain and unstable future, with heightened perceptions of risk, but when we also have a unique opportunity to generate the kinds of policy change required to achieve a new global balance.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, and Food

80. Bridging the Divide: The reform of global food security governance

Author:: Chris Leather
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Another World Food Summit is being held in Rome to discuss world food security, in the midst of a chronic global food crisis in which one billion (one in six) people go to bed hungry every day of their shortened lives. During the two-and-a-half days of the Summit, more than 60,000 people, 70 per cent of them children, will die of hunger-related causes.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Food, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Rome

81. Resilience: Working with vulnerable farmers towards climate change adaptation and food security

Author:: Jules Siedenburg, Kimberly Pfeifer, and Kelly Hauser
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Worldwide, 1.7 billion small-scale farmers and pastoralists are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. They live on marginal rural lands characterised by conditions such as low rainfall, sloping terrain, fragile soils, and poor market access, primarily in Africa and Asia. Such farmers are vulnerable because their farms depend directly on rainfall and temperature, yet they often have little savings and few alternative options if their crops fail or livestock die.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

82. A Billion Hungry People: Governments and aid agencies must rise to the challenge

Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The food price increases of 2007 and 2008 focused attention on a global food crisis that was already affecting more than 850 million people. Even before the 2008 food riots, some 16,000 children were dying every day from hunger-related causes – one every five seconds. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that by the end of 2008, rising prices had added 109 million to the ranks of the hungry. Today, about one in six of the world's population goes short of food, almost a billion people.
Topic:: International Relations, Humanitarian Aid, Third World, Foreign Aid, Food, and Famine

83. 4-a-week: Changing food consumption in the UK to benefit people and planet

Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Food shopping may seem an innocent, even mundane, chore. But the food we buy every week can have huge impacts on people and environments seemingly worlds away from our regular dash round the shops. The futures of some of the world's poorest people and of the global environment are intimately linked to the contents of our shopping baskets.
Topic:: Environment, Political Economy, and Food
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

84. Suffering the Science: Climate change, people, and poverty

Author:: Alex Renton
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Climate change is a reality and its effects are apparent right now. The scientific predictions are shifting continually – they almost always look bleaker. But Oxfam's experience in nearly 100 countries is definitive: hundreds of millions of people are already suffering damage from a rapidly changing climate, which is frustrating their efforts to escape poverty. This paper is the story of the 'affected'.
Topic:: Climate Change, Poverty, Natural Resources, Food, and Famine

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS