Typhoon Haiyan not only killed thousands and made millions homeless. It also struck an already poor region, pushing families deeper into poverty, and making them more vulnerable to the next disaster.
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Reports
Survey on the livelihoods of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
There are an estimated one million refugees from Syria living in Lebanon, with more arriving every day. As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, it is increasingly likely that many will remain in Lebanon for many months, if not years, to come. The Beirut Research and Innovation Centre was commissioned by Oxfam to survey 260 households, representing 1,591 individuals, about their living conditions, sources of income and expenditure patterns, coping mechanisms and perceptions of life in Lebanon. The survey shows that many families are spiralling deeper into debt, living in cramped conditions, with few job prospects and dwindling hope for the future.
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Adaptation and the $100bn commitment: Why private investment cannot replace public finance in meetin
Private finance has a vital role to play in the global response to climate change, but it is not a substitute for public finance. COP19 in Warsaw must make commitments to scaling up public finance for adaptation, so that the world’s poorest countries and communities are not left without promised adaptation support.
Moment of Truth: Call to action ahead of Syria peace talks, and beyond
The horrifying chemical weapons attacks in Damascus in August 2013 led to a flurry of diplomatic activity. This new momentum has the potential to turn into a breakthrough only if urgent and immediate action is taken on aid and efforts are made to stop the bloodshed.
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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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