A vocational training scheme is helping Samoan communities prepare for cyclone season by equipping young people with the skills to repair vital water infrastructure. Nineteen youths from Siumu and Safata in Upolu took part in an emergency plumbing repairs course, a component of Oxfam’s long term strategy to help Samoa not only rebuild from Cyclone Evan, but to strengthen communities’ resilience to future storms.
News & Media
Sugar rush: Land rights and the supply chains of the biggest food and beverage companies
This paper sets out how one crop – sugar – has been driving large-scale land acquisitions and land conflicts at the expense of small-scale food producers and their families. At least 4m hectares of land have been acquired for sugar production in 100 large-scale land deals since 2000, although given the lack of transparency around such deals, the area is likely to be much greater. In some cases, these acquisitions have been linked to human rights violations, loss of livelihoods, and hunger for small-scale food producers and their families. Major food and beverage companies rarely own land, but they depend on it for the crops they buy, including sugar. These companies must urgently recognise this problem, and take steps to ensure that land rights violations and conflicts are not part of their supply chains.
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After the Drought: The 2012 drought, Russian farmers, and the challenges of adapting to extreme weat
Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common in Russia, and the 2012 drought confirmed this trend. However, Russia still has only a small number of specific agricultural adaptation measures in place. This case study analyses the key difficulties that small-scale farmers faced as a result of the 2012 drought and discusses possible adaptation measures, which could be used to confront these. It argues that climate change and the absence of adaptation policies are creating food security problems and a livelihood crisis for small-scale farmers. Specific and well-designed adaptation policies could significantly ameliorate the problems faced by the Russian agricultural sector, and must be introduced as soon as possible.
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Pakistan earthquake
At least 328 people have died in a 7.7 earthquake in Awaran, southwest Pakistan. The earthquake created a new island off the coast and flattened villages. At this point, medics and aid workers are struggling to reach survivors. Hospitals are running out of medicine and food. The region is remote and the security situation is sensitive.
Oxfam is closely coordinating with local Government authorities, UN agencies and other NGOs to ensure an adequate humanitarian response. We are carrying out assessments through our local partner organisation and we have mobilised water, sanitation and hygiene supplies in case they are needed.
To help Oxfam act quickly when emergencies strike, please donate to our Disaster Response Fund.
US Government signs Arms Trade Treaty – Over 100 countries have now signed the historic agreement
The Control Arms Coalition welcomed today’s signing of the Arms Trade Treaty by the United States. As the world’s biggest arms exporter, the United States joins more than half of UN member states who have already signed the treaty.
Growing Disruption: Climate change, food, and the fight against hunger
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.
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