Research & reports

Saving for Change: Financial inclusion and resilience for the world's poorest people

jabdulla — 2013-05-15T13:29:15Z

Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people do not have a formal bank account. With few viable means to save, these individuals and their families are vulnerable to life-threatening hardships. Community-based savings groups are designed to provide a mechanism for resilience. Jointly, Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger commissioned the largest study to date to evaluate the impact of community-based savings groups—using both a randomized controlled trial and in-depth qualitative research.

Housing Delivery and Housing Finance in Haiti

jedwards — 2013-05-09T18:39:44Z

Although the 2010 earthquake destroyed much of Haiti's urban infrastructure, it is not the sole cause of the nation's distress today. Rather, the earthquake exposed weaknesses in Haiti's housing ecosystem—including delivery blockages and the absence of effective supply and demand value chains that must be addressed or the nation will never be able to build a successful society with quality affordable urban housing.

The Rice Value Chain in Haiti

jedwards — 2013-05-01T14:55:28Z

Trade liberalization in 1995 led to a surge in rice imports in Haiti, and today, foreign rice accounts for 83 percent of the supply of this main staple of the Haitian diet. This costs Haiti some $200 million annually, and leaves Haitian consumers vulnerable to spikes in volatile global prices. A substantial increase in local production is needed to reduce import dependence. But Haitian rice yields have stagnated for over two decades due to limited irrigation and poor maintenance of existing networks, poor soil and water conservation, lack of drying and milling facilities, limited government support for research and extension, and other problems.

This paper proposes a comprehensive new national rice policy, aimed at boosting farmers’ productivity and incomes. To bolster these investments, the paper proposes a price stabilization system that ensures that imported rice sells at a minimum entry price, with a variable tariff that rises when the price of imports falls below the minimum level. This system would not have a high impact on either producer or consumer prices.

Human Rights and Social Conflict in the Oil, Gas, and Mining Industries

jedwards — 2013-04-10T17:34:38Z

This research backgrounder proposes a framework for evaluating National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in countries with significant human rights abuses associated with oil, gas, and mining projects. Based on secondary research and interviews with experts on business and human rights, the report analyzes the successes and shortcomings of NHRIs in their work to resolve human rights-related social conflicts in the extractive industries. The report also includes a case study with recommendations for Ghana’s NHRI, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

R4 Rural Resilience Initiative

manand — 2013-04-25T20:15:16Z

In its two years of inception, R4 has successfully expanded the HARITA operations in Ethiopia, and has kicked-off the implementation of R4 pilot 2013 in Senegal. With its successful initiation on the ground, the R4 partnership is set to enable many more vulnerable people to graduate from food insecurity through a community-oriented, risk management– focused, and market-based approach to achieve rural resiliency.

In this report we share key accomplishments during the October– December 2012 quarter, including the risk reduction activities conducted during the 2012 agricultural season in Ethiopia, and present the Senegal pilot design for the 2013 roll-out.

Power of Oil Palm

jedwards — 2013-03-19T20:06:56Z

Access to land is critical for the survival of millions of households in developing countries that depend on it for their food security and livelihoods. Yet land holdings, especially of the most fertile land, are highly concentrated. In recent years the accelerated scale and pace of large-scale land acquisitions has signaled a global land rush, and evidence is mounting that the price being paid by affected communities is unacceptably high.

This case study focuses on the Palmas del Ixcán company and the social, environmental and economic effects of its oil palm plantations on local communities in northern Guatemala. The evidence gathered reveals practices that violate people's basic rights and indicates lack of a thorough impact assessment, of effective democratic planning, and of contract transparency.

Local Institutions, External Interventions, and Adaptations to Climate Variability

jedwards — 2013-02-25T18:47:38Z

This research examines the role of local institutions in mediating the adaptive practices developed by individuals and collectives in the cotton-growing region of Mali. In this area, the main climate risk is erratic and inadequate rainfall, compounded by difficulties related to guaranteeing a sufficient income from cotton and cereal farming from increasingly infertile soils. The following key questions guided the fieldwork: 1) What role do local social institutions have in long-term adaptation to environmental change?, 2) How have extra-local actors interacted with local social institutions in development and adaptation efforts?, and 3) How is the production and use of weather and climate information organized?

Local Institutions, External Interventions, and Adaptations to Climate Variability

jedwards — 2013-02-20T20:20:10Z

The purpose of this study is to understand the role of local institutions in assisting the Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia in dealing with droughts. Because of social and economic marginalization, as well as sheer geography, Borana pastoralists are very vulnerable to the effects of climate variability. The study places these local practices in micro- and macroinstitutional frameworks, to explore how different interventions have enhanced or inhibited coping and adaptations; how local institutions interacted with external structures; and whether new institutions are emerging to foster adaptive capacity.

US Investment in Large-scale Land Acquisitions

jedwards — 2013-02-19T18:46:19Z

In the past decade, investment in land used for agriculture and forestry in low- and middle-income countries has grown dramatically. This study provides an analysis of the extent of US investors’ and investment fund managers’ involvement in this phenomenon over the past 10 years. With this research, Oxfam America hopes to begin exploring the business models behind these investments and the potential food security implications in low- and middle- income countries where large-scale land acquisitions are occurring.

The role of local institutions in adaptive processes to climate variability

akramer — 2013-02-13T17:43:56Z

Farmers and herders in arid regions of Africa face serious challenges in adapting to climate change and variability. They are highly exposed to climate stresses, especially drought, but adaptation to climate change is far from being a clear-cut biophysical or technical problem: it is also a social challenge. Although communities in semi-arid zones have organized their cultures and livelihoods around uncertainty and the risk of drought, climate predictions indicate that new extremes will be a real challenge to their capacity to adapt. This report looks at local social institutions in Ethiopia and Mali and their role in adaptation.

R4 Rural Resilience Initiative

akramer — 2013-03-19T14:59:36Z

R4 represents a new kind of partnership, bringing public- and private-sector actors together in a strategic, large-scale initiative to innovate and develop better tools to help the most vulnerable people build resilient livelihoods. R4 promises to leverage the respective strengths of its partners: Oxfam America’s capacity to
build innovative partnerships and the World Food Programme’s global reach and extensive capacity to support government-led safety nets for the most vulnerable people. This partnership will enable thousands more poor farmers and other food insecure households to manage weather vulnerability through an affordable, comprehensive risk management program that builds long-term resilience.

In this report we share key accomplishments during the July–September 2012 quarter, including the enrollment results for the 2012 agricultural season in Ethiopia, and present the regional level analysis conducted in Senegal in preparation of the pilot rollout in 2013.

Harvesting data

jedwards — 2012-11-20T16:34:50Z

This Research Backgrounder paints a picture of overall US government spending on agriculture during the 10-year period 1998-2007 using a macro, evidence-based approach and treating “official development assistance to agriculture” as it was defined prior to the global food price crisis. The author hopes to thus provide researchers and others with a baseline against which to track shifts in spending patterns that result from the whole-of-government approach that emerged from L’Aquila.

Community Consent Index

jedwards — 2012-12-11T15:53:33Z

Increasingly, around the world local communities are demanding a meaningful voice in determining whether and under what conditions oil, natural gas, and mining projects take place. This Research Backgrounder collates a representative sample of the publicly available position statements concerning community rights made by 28 major oil, gas, and mining exploration and production companies, with a primary focus on 2010 to 2012.

From Controversy to Consensus?

jedwards — 2012-11-20T16:39:41Z

In light of the urgent need to reduce conflict around extractive industry and other large-scale development projects with potentially significant impacts on indigenous peoples and local communities, Oxfam America compiled the case studies in this report highlighting lessons learned from three community consultation experiences.

Haiti Rice Value Chain Assessment

nhailu — 2012-11-01T17:20:23Z

The paper provides an assessment of the Haitian rice value chain, including an exploration of areas for improvement. Total rice production has not grown significantly over the past 35 years, despite significant financial and technical assistance provided in some geographical areas. The market share of nationally produced rice has shrunk dramatically in the face of competition from inexpensive, subsidized commercial and food aid rice imports from the United States, which have become dominant in national diets, increasing the risk of long-term food insecurity in an era of global food price volatility.