What Oxfam is doing
Fighting hunger has long been at the core of Oxfam's mission. The name "Oxfam" comes from the original British postal abbreviation for the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in Oxford, UK, whose early efforts included an appeal in spring 1945 to help survivors of the Dutch "hunger winter."
Since then, we've helped people overcome hunger in hundreds of countries worldwide. And we've learned that hunger is not just about the lack of food; it's about power. Its roots lie in inequalities in access to education and resources. The results are illiteracy, poverty, war, and the inability of families to grow or buy food.
That's why, instead of short-term handouts, we promote change "from the bottom up": through hundreds of grassroots organizations around the world. Through years of experience, we've developed an array of solutions that allow us to respond to food crises quickly, using tools that can also help strengthen local markets.
We're also calling on our leaders to change the laws and practices that may contribute to the hunger crisis. For example, in many humanitarian emergencies Oxfam responds to, food is often one of people's most urgent needs, but they can't wait months for it to be shipped from abroad. We're calling for a reform of our current system of international food aid in order to make it faster, more flexible and cheaper.
Here are some of the other ways we’re fighting hunger around the world:
- Community gardens. In Peru's lower Urubamba River Valley, Oxfam helped 475 indigenous Machiguenga families plan and build community gardens, where families can cultivate a wider variety of crops to eat, including yucca, a staple food in this area.
- Cereal banks. In the North Bank Division of Gambia, Oxfam's partner organization built and stocked four cereal "banks"—tidy white structures the size of small houses that can hold up to 30 tons of cereals—located at strategic points around the communities. Villagers then formed committees to manage the stored supplies, which help them weather tough times
- New techniques. In Vietnam and Cambodia, an Oxfam partner group trains rice farmers to use the innovative System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which requires fewer inputs and produces higher yields.
- Buying locally. After a 2005 earthquake devastated Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, Oxfam organized a program that provided hungry families with vouchers to use among a selected group of merchants. Not only did the vouchers offer earthquake survivors the chance to make their own choices about the food they needed most, they helped to revitalize local markets by boosting commerce and allowing traders to rebuild their businesses.
- Diversified crops. When sugar prices dropped, Oxfam supported 11 cooperatives of small farmers in Cuba as they diversified their crops, shifting from producing sugar for export to growing beans, corn, fruit, vegetables, and meat for local markets.
