Research & reports http://www.oxfamamerica.org These are the search results for the query, showing results 41 to 55. Growing a Better Future Summary http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/growing-a-better-future-summary We have entered an age of crisis: of food price spikes and oil price hikes; of scrambles for land and water; of growing climate disasters. No publisher aperera 2011-08-15T15:22:54Z Research Report The Human Cost: Cubans and Cuban Americans talk about their lives and the U.S. Embargo http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/the-human-cost-cubans-and-cuban-americans-talk-about-their-lives-and-the-u.s.-embargo Over the course of three years, author Dr. Mercedes B. Arce Rodriguez interviewed Cubans and Cuban Americans about their lives, collecting testimonies about the impact of the U.S. embargo. She lets their personal stories speak for themselves while reflecting on the social impact of the blockade from a deeply human dimension. The publication was made possible through the support of Oxfam America.

]]> No publisher kharrison 2011-07-28T18:26:35Z Research Report Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies, Communities and Climate Change http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/adapting-for-a-green-economy-companies-communities-and-climate-change A Caring for Climate Report At the end of this year, governments will gather in Durban, South Africa, for the next round of United Nations negotiations to advance global action on climate change. In June 2012, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) will seek to secure new and comprehensive commitments to sustainable development.

This publication aims to support the efforts leading up to Rio+20, as well as the activities, processes, commitments and partnerships that flow from it. By highlighting the nexus among climate change risks and opportunities, sustainable development and climate change adaptation,

Adapting for a Green Economy provides useful guidance to business leaders and policymakers alike.

]]> No publisher aperera 2011-06-20T18:29:02Z Research Report An Ounce of Prevention: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/an-ounce-of-prevention Preparing for the Impact of a Changing Climate on US Humanitarian and Disaster Response This report examines the likely impacts of a changing climate on the US government’s civilian and military humanitarian response systems. We analyze both humanitarian and security implications of climate change as well as how the US government responds to overseas climate-related emergencies. We want to understand the changes that can be made now to better prepare these systems for the long-term effects of climate change.

]]> No publisher aperera 2011-06-21T15:36:32Z Research Report Growing a Better Future http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/growing-a-better-future Food justice in a resource-constrained world. We face three interlinked challenges in an age of growing crisis: feeding nine billion people without wrecking the planet, finding equitable solutions to end disempowerment and injustice, and increasing our collective resilience to shocks and volatility.

The good news is that practical solutions are both urgent and available—from simple common sense acts we can all take, to bold shifts in how we manage shared resources and value social progress. They are good for producers, good for consumers, and good for the planet. Their benefits can be shared by the many, not just the few, and they are built to be resilient in the long run.

Growing a better future will take all the energy, ingenuity and political will that humankind can muster. If the best solutions are to win out, we must mount powerful campaigns to win significant reforms in how our societies manage common threats and resources and create platforms for opportunity. From global negotiations to national decision making, this report outlines the shifts we must work for to make food justice a reality.

Open publication
]]> No publisher akramer GROW 2011-08-15T15:24:14Z Research Report Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) quarterly report: January 2011–March 2011 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/harita-quarterly-report-jan-mar-2011 Rural resilience series For the 1.3 billion people living on less than a dollar a day who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, vulnerability to weather-related shocks is a constant threat to security and well-being. As climate change drives an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural hazards, the challenges faced by food-insecure communities struggling to improve their lives and livelihoods will also increase. The question of how to build rural resilience against weather-related risk is critical for addressing global poverty.

In response to this challenge, Oxfam America has developed a holistic risk management framework to enable poor farmers in Ethiopia to strengthen their food and income security through a combination of improved resource management (risk reduction), microcredit (“smart” risk taking), risk transfer (insurance), and risk reserves (savings). The Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) project implemented in Ethiopia is the first example of this pioneering approach. Initiated in 2007 through an innovative partnership that brought together Ethiopian farmers, the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), Nyala Insurance Share Company, Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution (DECSI), Mekelle University, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), Swiss Re, the Rockefeller Foundation, and six other organizations including a farmers’ cooperative, local government agencies, a local agriculture research organization, and global legal experts, the project has broken new ground in the field of risk management by enabling Ethiopia’s poorest farmers to pay for their insurance with their own labor.

]]> No publisher cengstrom Ethiopia 2011-07-25T18:54:46Z Research Report Oxfam America Mid-­‐Term Climate Change Campaign Evaluation Executive Summary http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/oxfam-america-mid-ad2010term-climate-change-campaign-evaluation-executive-summary-1 This is a final report of iScale’s mid-­‐term review of Oxfam America’s (OA) Climate Change Campaign (CCC). The purpose of the review is to assess the effectiveness of OA’s campaign efforts to influence US policy and leadership in international fora as well as its efforts to promote greater action on climate change through its country assistance programs. As a
member of Oxfam International (OI), OA carries out the majority of its policy and campaign work in conjunction with OI. The CCC in the US and the climate change work of other OI affiliates (Oxfam Great Britain and Oxfam Australia) were designed to contribute to the objectives of the OI Climate Change Campaign.

]]> No publisher aperera 2012-01-09T19:47:19Z Research Report The Right of Indigenous Peoples to Prior Consultation: The Situation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/the-right-of-indigenous-peoples-to-prior-consultation-the-situation-in-bolivia-colombia-ecuador-and-peru This study illustrates the barriers to exercising the right to prior consultation and consent in each of these four countries, and is intended to encourage broad debate. At Oxfam's request, the Due Process Law Foundation (DPLF) studied the current situation of the right to prior consultation under international human rights law in four Andean countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The study illustrates the barriers to exercising the right to prior consultation and consent in each of these four countries, and is intended to encourage broad debate. The report stresses the urgent need to develop mechanisms to ensure that indigenous peoples can act as architects of their own advancement as the true ancestral owners of the lands they inhabit.

]]> No publisher Due Process of Law Foundation and Oxfam Amazon Bolivia Colombia Ecuador Peru South America indigenous people oil, gas and mining 2011-12-16T20:09:03Z Research Report Impact of the US-Colombia FTA on the small farm economy in Colombia http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/impact-of-the-us-colombia-fta-on-the-small-farm-economy-in-colombia This in-depth economic study assesses the potential effect of agricultural provisions in the US-Colombia FTA on Colombia’s small-scale farmers using data from official and reputable sources to carry out a comparative statics analysis.  It concludes that a significant number of small farm households would see substantial drops in their income as a result of the FTA. This would result in a deeper vulnerability for a population that has already been disproportionally affected by Colombia's internal conflict.

This FTA would force Colombian agricultural products to compete without any protection against US subsidized commodities.  As a result, according to this study, Colombia’s 1.8 million small farmers would see their net agricultural income fall by over 16 percent on average.  The damage would be concentrated among nearly 400,000 small farmers, most of whom now earn less than the minimum wage but who would lose between 48 and 70 percent of their income.  If 400,000 small farmers, who on average have less than five years of formal education, lose their livelihoods, their employment options will be limited.  They are likely to take up coca cultivation, engross the files of illegal armed groups, or migrate to urban areas to join some 5 million Colombians – over 10 percent of Colombia’s total population - forcibly displaced from the countryside over the last 12 years, the great majority of whom live in extreme poverty.

]]> No publisher aperera 2011-05-04T13:27:06Z Research Report Ghana's Oil Readiness Report http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/ghanas-oil-readiness-report Civil society groups in Ghana have produced a report on the country’s readiness to deal with the challenges and meet the expectations of joining the league of oil producing nations. No publisher Patrick Ezeala 2011-04-19T13:18:53Z Research Report Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/inventory-of-farmworker-issues-and-protections-in-the-united-states The "Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States" is the product of a unique for-profit/NGO joint venture of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation and United Farm Workers (UFW), with support from Oxfam America. By compiling and analyzing data from multiple federal, state, and private sources, it renders the most comprehensive picture yet of the reality faced by America’s least-valued yet critically important workforce.

]]> No publisher aperera United States farmers human rights workers' rights 2011-07-28T21:47:17Z Research Report Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/exploring-the-links-between-international-business-and-poverty-reduction The Coca-Cola/SABMiller value chain impacts in Zambia and El Salvador

This study is the output of a multi-year collaboration among The Coca-Cola Company, Oxfam America, and SABMiIIer to apply Oxfam’s Poverty Footprint Methodology to the Coca-Cola/SABMiIIer value chain in Zambia and El Salvador. This methodology, which was originally developed and applied to Unilever’s operations in Indonesia, is designed to help companies understand and improve their poverty impacts, and provides a platform for dialogue, innovation, and accountability.

]]> No publisher aperera 2011-12-08T19:56:38Z Research Report Under pressure: Reducing disaster risk and enhancing US emergency response capacity in an era of climate change http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/under-pressure-climate-change-and-humanitarian-response With disasters—and particularly climate-related disasters—on the rise, the global humanitarian response system is under increased pressure to assist growing numbers of people. The US government is the leading global player in this system. The US approach seeks to encompass a broad range of activities and allow humanitarian agencies flexibility in their missions and response. However, as a result, the myriad interconnected US agencies involved—civilian and sometimes military—are without clear leadership and mission, beholden to various legislative constraints, and focused more on disaster response than on proactive disaster risk reduction (DRR).

Climate change poses a considerable challenge to US and international capacity to meet future humanitarian needs. This challenge presents itself in a context in which the international humanitarian response system is failing to meet existing needs. To meet the increased humanitarian need resulting from climate change, the international humanitarian aid system will need to increase its response capacity.

Given the likely effects of climate change, it behooves the US government to consider (1) how humanitarian emergencies might be prevented and (2) how its emergency response capacity might be enhanced. DRR offers a promising way forward. According to the United Nations, DRR is “the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyze and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessening vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events.” It is intricately linked with climate change adaptation. The return on DRR investment is quite high. Beyond mainstreaming DRR in its assistance programs, the US government needs to address budgetary, organizational, and legislative issues that currently impede the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. In addition, the US government needs to sort out how best to draw on the unique capabilities and appropriate role of the US military in humanitarian emergencies while avoiding excessive and unnecessary use of military forces. Finally, the US can play a leadership role in furthering reform of the global humanitarian system, given its pivotal role within that system."

]]> No publisher nhailu 2011-06-08T14:34:38Z Research Report Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) quarterly report: October 2010–December 2010 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/horn-of-africa-risk-transfer-for-adaptation-harita-quarterly-report-october-20102013december-2010 Rural resilience series In its two years of delivery in five villages in Ethiopia, HARITA has shown promising results for replication. More than 1,300 households currently participate in HARITA, up from 200 in its first year. In large part, the success in uptake is due to a critical design element that allows the poorest farmers to pay for their insurance premiums through their labor. In 2011, HARITA will scale up to serve 15,000 households, achieving the critical mass necessary for commercial viability. This success led, at the end of 2010, to Oxfam America and the World Food Programme (WFP) reaching an agreement to launch a joint five-year rural resilience program modeled on HARITA in additional regions of Ethiopia and three other countries. The partnership is called the Rural Resilience Initiative, or R4 (referring to risk reduction, prudent risk taking, risk transfer, and risk reserve). Announced at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference by Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, and Sheila Sisulu, WFP deputy executive director for hunger solutions, R4 promises to leverage the respective strengths of Oxfam and the WFP: Oxfam’s capacity to build innovative partnerships and the WFP’s long history of supporting state run safety nets for poor farmers. This partnership will enable poor, smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change through an affordable, comprehensive risk management program: improved resource management (risk reduction), microinsurance (risk transfer), microcredit (prudent risk
taking), and savings (risk reserves).

]]> No publisher aperera 2011-07-25T18:55:05Z Research Report Beyond Recovery: Moving the Gulf Coast Toward a Sustainable Future http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/beyond-recovery-moving-the-gulf-coast-toward-a-sustainable-future In this report, Oxfam America and the Center for American Progress honor the resiliency of the people of the Gulf Coast and propose a plan to restore the region building on existing assets and leveraging incoming federal funding to spark innovation and collaboration, putting local communities to work. This report details the Gulf Coast’s environmental, economic and social challenges and recommends a regional ecosystem restoration plan to help coastal communities and the ecology recover their past strength and build a foundation for a new economic future – establishing the Gulf Coast as an international leader in coastal restoration and resiliency – by promoting participation from coastal communities and businesses, and prioritizing innovation and opportunity.

]]> No publisher jlee US Gulf Coast Recovery 2011-02-11T21:12:09Z Research Report