Latest updates from Oxfam America

Systems, power, and agency in market-based approaches to poverty

khamilton — 2012-05-24T16:22:12Z

Market-based approaches (MBAs) have become an increasingly vital area for anti-poverty development work, spurring a wide range of new actors, partnerships, and initiatives. Many development proponents remain focused on macroeconomic growth through foreign direct investment and large-scale public-private partnerships. Others view these trends ominously and push for a return to protected markets and stronger regulation of corporations. Between these two poles, a third stream of MBA practitioners accepts globalization, but intervenes more directly in markets to ensure pro-poor impacts.

This paper reviews some of the shortcomings of these various approaches and describes the search for more holistic, systemic approaches. Specifically, the paper argues that MBAs continue to fall short of their potential because of a failure to: (i) employ “systems thinking,” (ii) address power and agency, and (iii) implement interventions with adequate political, social, and economic dexterity. A market systems approach (MSA) integrating these three essential elements (systems thinking, power/agency, and dexterity) offers the best prospect for ensuring significant and lasting change through market engagement.

Food crisis in West Africa

estevens — 2012-05-23T15:55:47Z

As the food crisis intensifies, families in hard-hit areas are employing desperate measures to find food, like foraging in anthills for bits of edible grain. Oxfam and our partners are improving access to food and clean water, while also helping livestock survive the crisis.

Sahel food crisis puts 18 million people at risk

cmccabe — 2012-05-22T19:10:01Z

In Peru, women confront climate change with traditional gardens

akramer — 2012-05-21T19:54:35Z

Through a pilot project from Oxfam and partner organization the Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), indigenous Kichwa women in five rural communities in the San Martin region of Peru are working together to cultivate shared gardens. They’ve planted only crops native to this biodiverse Amazon region, like daledale, a root vegetable, and majambo, a nutritious yellow gourd, along with local varieties of household staples.

Many of these plants have been cultivated by Kichwa people for generations, but are in danger of disappearing as growers turn to cash crops like coffee or cacao instead. This shift to a single crop can leave farmers more vulnerable unpredictable rainfall caused by climate change, and more dependent on purchasing food from outside rather than growing it themselves—putting them at risk of hunger.

“Food prices are increasing. Sometimes we don’t have money for bread,” said Luz Sinarahua, who leads the group of women growers in Chirikyacu. “That’s why we’re glad to have the beans, yucca, and plantains from the garden.”

See a photo slideshow of the women and their gardens

Oxfam program officer Lorena Del Carpio said the ancestral Kichwa methods of harvesting and planting year-round can help people adapt to changes in the climate. “Indigenous people have important knowledge about how to work with the environment,” said Del Carpio. “[Their traditional way of] growing diverse crops helps ensure food for their families.”

The idea for the gardens came from listening to Kichwa women, who first raised concerns about the loss of their crops in an AIDESEP workshop designed to build women’s leadership and advocacy skills. These efforts are part of a larger Oxfam program that helps indigenous people in South America protect their cultural, political, and territorial rights.

In the future, “we want to make sure we have enough for food, [but] our main goal is to sell crops so we can increase our incomes,” said Sinarahua of the women’s plans. AIDESEP aims to organize a sellers’ fair where growers from these remote towns can exchange seeds and connect with potential buyers. And, eventually, they hope to expand the project to other communities.

To learn more about the traditional gardens and the women who grow them, see the article in OXFAMExchange magazine.

OXFAMExchange, Spring 2012

jingari — 2012-05-22T14:06:26Z

For many people on our planet, increasingly unpredictable weather is leading to life threatening problems. In West Africa, 18.4 million people are now at risk of a serious food crisis created in part by erratic weather. In East Africa, drought—in some places the worst in 60 years—helped trigger a crisis in the middle of last year that affected more than 13 million people. Together, that’s over 31 million people on one continent alone confronted with profound struggles, and that’s just in the past 12 months.

Such evidence of a global climate crisis can send development experts into a tailspin, as they search for answers. But solutions may not be as hard to find as we imagine.

We can start by listening.

Listening to local people and learning from the deep knowledge they have about their communities, natural resources, and history lies at the heart of smart development. It’s the first step in empowering people to make the systemic changes that will allow them to build their resilience and ensure a better future for themselves and their families.

For Maribel Cachique and a group of other young mothers working in the Peruvian Amazon (see page 8), a garden of ancestral crops thriving deep in the forest may hold one of the answers to their battle with climate change. Their garden and others like it grew out of conversations fellow Kichwa women had about their need for food security. Hearing their concerns, Oxfam helped launch the pilot project. And now, Cachique’s determination and advice to the other growers offers inspiration to us all: Bit by bit, she says, the Kichwa women are going to move forward.

Sometimes charting a new path is not about leading. Our job here at Oxfam, and yours, is to heed the advice of leaders like Cachique—and to follow.

Building a better life, one plant at a time

csoares — 2012-05-21T14:41:53Z

Farmers using the System of Rice Intensification in Cambodia grow bigger, stronger plants that can better withstand flooding.

G8 to poor countries: It’s not you, it’s me

bgrossmancohen — 2012-05-19T23:41:07Z

As the Camp David G8 Summit winds down, international agency Oxfam criticized G8 leaders for failing to renew measureable funding and policy commitments to help address global food security. Leaders were unwilling to continue current efforts to invest in developing country agriculture, even as they set a new goal of helping 50 million people lift themselves out of poverty through agriculture by 2015.

“As if they are using the classic break up line, ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ the G8 is walking away from the agreement struck in Italy just three years ago,” said Oxfam’s Gregory Adams. “Breaking up is never easy, but the G8’s unwillingness to sustain their promises comes as the challenges facing poor people around the world are only getting harder.”

While members of the private sector featured prominently in G8 discussions, the concerns of smallholder farmers who are the key to food security were not at the table. Concerned with the direction of the G8’s efforts on food security, a number of African civil society leaders have asked the G8 to stick to the plans drawn up in L’Aquila.

“The G8 made a commitment in 2009 to stand with developing countries for better or for worse,” said Oxfam’s Lamine Ndiaye. “Poor countries have presented the G8 country-led, sustainable, and coordinated plans for food security and agricultural development, but today the G8 gave them the cold shoulder.”

In one summit bright spot, a handful of countries made much-needed pledges to the tune of $1.2 billion to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the multi-donor fund that invests directly in country plans. Oxfam urged the rest of the G8 to follow suit, channeling all pledges through the public sector window.

“The GAFSP has been running on fumes and will certainly benefit from the announced injection of resources,” said Adams.

As the shutters close in Camp David, we look to the G20 in Los Cabos to take concrete action to fix the broken food system. Attention also shifts towards the UK, which will host the next G8 Summit.

“Along with the US, the UK deserves credit for sticking to its overall aid commitments and those made at L'Aquila to address global hunger,” said Adams. “And as chair of next year's G8, it is the UK’s turn to raise the level of ambition and deliver a partnership with developing countries to tackle the scandal that sees one in seven people going hungry.”

\ENDS

Oxfam: G8 food security alliance answers question hungry people have not asked

bgrossmancohen — 2012-05-18T16:25:43Z

Washington, DC— International agency Oxfam warned that today’s announcement of the "New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition" focuses too heavily on the role of the private sector to tackle the complex challenges of food insecurity in the developing world. The organization called instead for G8 leaders to keep the promises they have already made to help developing countries invest in sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty.

"The New Alliance is neither new nor a true alliance,” said Oxfam’s Lamine Ndiaye. “The rhetoric invokes small-scale producers, particularly women, but the plan must do more to bring them to the table.” Smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, make up the majority of hungry people in poor countries and are key agents of change in their communities.

Three years ago, at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, President Obama rallied the leaders of the world’s richest countries to pledge $22 billion to poor countries that had goods plans to tackle hunger. Seven months away from the end of the L’Aquila initiative, dozens of poor countries have lived up to their end of the bargain, but the G8 is falling down on the job.

“President Obama deserves credit for focusing the G8’s attention on the fact that one billion people go to bed hungry every night,” said Oxfam’s Gregory Adams. “We applaud the clear focus on the target of helping 50 million people escape hunger and poverty through agriculture.”

“G8 leaders should join President Obama to commit resources to help developing countries reach this ambitious goal. The pledge to find $1.2 billion for the trust fund to support country agriculture plans is a good start. But the G8 should recommit to the partnership they began at L’Aquila and maintain that level of investments. Otherwise, they’ll be offering a shrinking solution to a growing problem.”

The alliance includes 45 companies from around the world, representing what G8 leaders hope will be the missing link to achieve transformational development in poor countries. While there is a positive role for the private sector in the fight against global hunger, the plan’s top down approach does not reflect what many people in poor countries say they want or need. The average private sector role in existing country food security plans, the basis for the L’Aquila agreement, is about 5%, and most have no role at all.

“This new alliance – is a nice complement at best, a deflection at worst. The role of the private sector is important, but they will not be able to make up for the G8’s broken promises,” said Ndiaye. “Smallholder farmers need the freedom to pursue their own growing strategies, not take overly-prescriptive tips on farming from G8 leaders, or one size fits all technologies from far away CEOs.”

A number of African civil society leaders and groups publicly raised concerns about the path the G8 is taking on food security in an open a letter to the G8 and a declaration signed at a Committee on World Food Security Consultation for African civil society groups in April of 2012.

“Having been developed without African civil society, it’s unclear what role they will play in its execution,” said Ndiaye.

The plan mentions but must do more do address the growing threats of climate change and natural resource constraints. And while the G8’s initiative endorses the United Nations Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, an important step forward in preventing land grabs, they make a misstep in also legitimizing a weaker World Bank standard.

“Unless the G8 reaffirms and continues its L’Aquila pledges, they are passing the buck on global hunger,” said Adams. “The private sector, especially local small and medium enterprises, can play an important role in tackling food security, but G8 leaders have to first deliver on their end of the deal.”

/ENDS

West Africa food crisis: Senegalese singer Baaba Maal performs benefit concert

Patrick Ezeala — 2012-05-17T18:36:58Z

The renowned singer Baaba Maal has intensified his call for an urgent response to the food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa. Maal, who has recently been named an Oxfam global ambassador, toured some villages in the Matam region of northeast Senegal last week.

The singer and his band, The Orchestre Daande Lenol (“voice of the people” in the Fulani language), held an all-night concert in Wodobere village to raise funds for affected communities.

Maal paused during the concert attended by 1,000 people in the remote village to speak about the food crisis in Senegal and other parts of West Africa. “There is a need to act fast to avoid the situation getting worse. We saw children who don’t even have water to drink. Everywhere it is dry, wells have dried up, and dead animals are littered everywhere.”

The morning after the concert, Maal visited the village of Mbelone located two and a half miles from Wodobere. “We face serious problems here. Our livestock are dying before our eyes,” said Ely Hamady Diallo, the chief of Mbelone, to Maal and a group of journalists. “If we humans do not have food to eat how can we feed our animals? Every other day we lose an animal -- the livestock are our livelihood.”

“I am here with Oxfam to call on governments and the international community to come and help,” Baaba Maal said to journalists after listening to the villagers. “We are demonstrating that artists are not just there to perform and make money. We can be agents of development.”

More than 18 million people are affected by the food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa owing to irregular rainfall last year, a lack of animal fodder, poor harvests, and lingering vulnerability from the 2010 food crisis. Rising food prices across the region and political conflict in Mali compound the situation. In Senegal, 850,000 people are affected. Oxfam’s response to the crisis will include: cash transfers so families can purchase food and agricultural inputs like seeds, as well as assistance to ensure people have clean water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance. With sufficient food and seeds, families stand a much better chance of a successful harvest this year.

Oxfam is aiming to help 1.2 million people across seven countries with programs that include cash transfers and cash-for-work initiatives, veterinary care for the livestock on which many families depend, and access to clean water and sanitation. We are also campaigning to change the root causes of this crisis. Find out how you can support our efforts.

Afghan security forces need urgent reforms

mhart — 2012-05-17T19:37:17Z

Twenty leading international and Afghan organizations called on NATO and the Afghan government to agree to commitments to ensure Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are able to protect civilians and are held accountable if they commit abuses or violate international law. The organizations also warned of a possible rise in crime and insecurity in the country if there are no jobs for up to 120,000 troops due to be demobilized post 2014.

The organizations, including Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Refugee Council, CIVIC, Christian Aid, and the Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security – Afghanistan, made the call as NATO states prepare for a summit in Chicago on May 20-2 to discuss their future role in Afghanistan. They said that despite some positive efforts by NATO to improve the quality of Afghan security forces, more action and safeguards are needed.

“Over the past decade, the lives of millions of Afghan men, women, and children have improved: 2.7 million girls go to school, women sit in parliament, Afghans can vote, and there is better access health services.

But these improvements are continually threatened by insecurity and weak rule of law. There are consistent reports of abuse by poorly trained and unaccountable Afghan security personnel. NATO governments have an obligation to ensure that the security forces they have helped create, fund, arm, and train do not commit abuses and can serve all Afghans. Security forces that are poorly trained, unaccountable, and unable to uphold law and order are bad for Afghans and bad for peace and security in the region,” said Anjo van Toorn, Oxfam’s Regional Manager for South Asia.

The organizations also warned that proposals to slash the size of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) post-2014 could result in up to 120,000 men with weapons training left unemployed throughout the country, risking even further the safety of Afghans.

The organizations called on NATO and the Afghan Government to:

Ensure that all civilian casualties and allegations of abuse by ANSF are effectively tracked and investigated by the Afghan government and prosecuted where appropriate. This requires an effective civilian casualty tracking unit to monitor casualties attributed to the ANSF and help reduce the number of Afghan’s harmed, as well as a complaints review body for all ANSF, which is well-publicized, easily accessible, transparent, and independent.
Ensure there is a fully-funded demobilization plan in place before any major Afghan troop cuts to address the high risk of increased crime and conflict.
Accelerate the recruitment of female security personnel, especially in the police, to ensure the security services are more accessible and responsive to women and girls.
Allocate additional resources to ensure improved ANSF vetting and expanded training on human rights, rule of law, and women's rights

“In Chicago, NATO must heed what is at stake for Afghans. Efforts to improve the conduct and accountability of the Afghan security forces must be urgently accelerated, and women are critical to this. The evidence is clear that women and girls are especially vulnerable to violence and insecurity: their voices must be heard and be part of the solution for a sustainable peace and prosperity’’ says Wazhma Frogh, Executive Director of Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security. ‘’What happens to women in the coming years, is key to the international community’s legacy in Afghanistan’’

Sowing seeds

aperera — 2012-05-16T17:28:53Z

Opportunities and challenges facing US assistance for food security in Guatemala

Oxfam America files lawsuit against Securities and Exchange Commission

jforres — 2012-05-16T14:40:02Z

Washington, D.C. – International relief and development organization Oxfam America has today filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for unlawfully delaying the issuance of a Final Rule implementing a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that requires disclosure of payments from oil, gas and mining companies to the United States and foreign governments. Known as Section 1504 or the “Cardin-Lugar” provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, this provision would provide information to investors and citizens in resource-rich countries, help stem corruption, and encourage the accountable use of billions of dollars in annual revenues from the oil, gas and mining sector.

Congress set a deadline of April 17, 2011, for the SEC’s promulgation of the final rule that is needed to bring Section 1504 into effect. The SEC has now missed this statutory deadline by one year and one month. Oxfam America notified the SEC on April 16, 2012 that it would file suit if the regulatory agency did not issue a final rule within 30 days. As Oxfam America’s lawsuit states, “the extractive payment disclosures that Congress mandated nearly two years ago will not take place unless and until the SEC issues a Final Rule. Unfortunately, the SEC’s pattern of delay gives no assurance that it will ever promulgate a Final rule without the involvement of this Court.” The SEC issued a proposed rule on December 15, 2010.

This legal action follows engagement by Oxfam America and allies in the Publish What You Pay coalition with the SEC since the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law. Oxfam America has made numerous substantive submissions to the SEC and has had multiple meetings with SEC staff about the proposed rule and the need for a strong final rule.

“We have been patient, but the Commission’s continued failure to issue a Final Rule implementing Cardin-Lugar frustrates Congress’s intent to increase transparency in resource-rich countries,” said Ian Gary, senior policy manager of Oxfam America’s oil, gas and mining program. “For those living in poverty in resource-rich countries, there’s no time left to wait.”

Gary added, “Oxfam America is simply asking for the SEC to follow the law.”

Investors representing more than $1.2 trillion worth of assets under management have made submissions to the SEC in support of the provision. Secretary of State Clinton has called on the SEC to “go as far as possible” in the final rule and many prominent members of the Senate and House of Representatives have called on the SEC to respect the statutory deadline and Congressional intent. The oil and mining industries have been fighting implementation, with the American Petroleum Institute calling on the SEC to “repropose” the rule.

“One of the reasons for the financial crisis was a lack of public information about the real risks of investments,” said Gary. “In the case of the oil and mining industries, investors have a right to know how and whether companies are exposed to political and expropriation risks in volatile resource-rich countries.”

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, asks the court to order the SEC to issue a Final Rule as required by Section 1504. Oxfam America is represented in this matter by Baker Hostetler LLP, one of the largest law firms in the US, and EarthRights International, an organization dedicated to defending human rights and the environment through legal actions and other strategies.

Bold food security initiative needed from G8

bgrossmancohen — 2012-05-17T14:39:08Z

Washington, DC— On the eve of the G8 Summit, international agency Oxfam called on world leaders heading to Camp David to make predictable, measureable funding and policy commitments that will help 50 million people lift themselves out of poverty through sustainable, small-scale agriculture by 2015.

Almost a billion people on this planet — one in seven of us — are hungry. The kind of hunger that pushes men to leave their families in search for work, forces mothers to choose between food and medicine for their children and prevents the healthy development of a new generation. At Camp David, the leaders of the eight richest countries can build on their previous commitments and partner with developing countries to urgently tackle hunger.

“From the Horn of Africa to the Sahel, farmers and herders, especially women, around the world are working tirelessly to overcome hunger in their communities, doing battle with high food prices, insects and erratic weather,” said Oxfam’s Gawain Kripke. “This week at Camp David, we hope the G8 will join smallholder farmers and developing countries to fight hunger by delivering on their previous pledges and recommitting for the future.”

Three years ago, at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, President Obama rallied the leaders of the world’s richest countries to promise to invest $22bn dollars over three years through country-led plans for food security. A number of countries have developed sustainable and coordinated plans for food security and agricultural development; they now need a partner to help get them off the ground.

“At least 30 poor countries have developed plans to improve their agriculture and tackle food insecurity in their communities, but the promise of resources has yet to materialize,” said Kripke. “The need to channel public sector resources through country plans hasn’t gone away. It’s time for the G8 to live up to their end of the deal, and put the money on the table.”

Worryingly, there are indications that the G8 leaders will look to the private sector to step in to make up for their shortfalls, despite the fact that the private sector is simply unlikely to make the scale or kinds of investments needed to fix the broken food system.

“The G8 must not give in to the temptation to make bold and convenient assumptions about the private sector as a development panacea,” said Kripke. “There is no evidence that the growing focus on private sector engagement at the expense of other approaches will truly deliver for the fight against hunger.”

While there is a positive role for the private sector in the fight against global hunger, a resourced public sector is crucial to get the private sector going. Furthermore, the average private sector role in existing country plan budgets is about 5%, and most have no role at all.

“A number of African civil society groups have raised concern about the direction of the G8’s efforts on food security,” said Oxfam’s Lamine Ndiaye. “The rhetoric is all about small scale producers, but they haven’t yet been a part of the G8’s conversation.”

/ENDS

Oxfam announces Baaba Maal as its new Global Ambassador

mhart — 2012-05-17T14:08:01Z

In Baaba Maal’s new role as Oxfam Ambassador he urged the world to respond to the food crisis in West and Central Africa before it is too late, having just returned from visiting communities in Senegal.

Baaba Maal said: "In February I traveled to Mauritania with Oxfam and was shocked by how bad things were. But I have just returned from a neighboring region of Senegal and found that already things are so much worse. As well as the acute lack of food, we saw children struggling to find water to drink. Everywhere is dry, wells have dried up and dead animals are littered everywhere.”

Approximately 18 million people are threatened by this year’s food crisis in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa, 850,000 of whom live in Baaba Maal’s home country of Senegal. And in the area of Matam visited by the musician, the effects of drought have hit hard.

The food crisis, which was brought about by low rainfall, poor harvests, a lack of pasture and rising food prices, is only set to escalate. The region is also dealing with more than 320,000 displaced people who have been forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict in Mali. About 160,000 of these are seeking refuge in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger – countries where communities are already struggling to find enough to eat.

Oxfam’s Regional Campaigns and Policy Manager, Steve Cockburn, said: "The UN is now saying that up to $1.5 billion could be needed to prevent the situation in West and Central Africa from turning into a catastrophe. Some donors have been responding positively, but we still only have about half the funding we need. The money could make a huge difference, but is needed now."

The UN estimates that six million people are already living in severe food insecurity across the region, and that one million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.

Claire Lewis, Oxfam Global Ambassador Program Manager said: "We are so fortunate to have Baaba Maal as an Oxfam Global Ambassador speaking out on this crisis. He is hugely respected as an artist, both in Africa and across the world, and we hope that his words will help to galvanise governments into action."

Baaba Maal, who last week held a concert in Matam, Northern Senegal, with funds raised going to the Sahel appeal said: "I am truly honored to be taking up the role of Oxfam Global Ambassador having seen the work that Oxfam is doing in West and Central Africa to try to avert this crisis. I will continue to add my voice to their call for urgent response to the food crisis in the region. Nobody should die from hunger in the 21st century."

West Africa food crisis: Dry times in 2011 threaten ability to plant in 2012

chufstader — 2012-05-16T18:55:26Z

Farmers in the far eastern Kedougou region of Senegal are nearing the end of the dry season and waiting nervously for the rains to start. Many of them had poor harvests in 2011 and have long ago consumed all the food they could grow, while struggling to hold aside rice, millet, groundnut, and maize seed they can plant when—and if— the rains start.

“I harvested practically nothing,” Founé Danfakha says of her 2011 yield. She grows groundnuts, maize, and rice in Bembou, a small village about 50 kilometers east of Kedougou, near the border with Mali. The 60-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of four says, “If the rain comes normally, I can get 20 sacks of groundnuts. Last year I got only five.”

Danfakha has about five acres of land. She says her last harvest was dismal: She got three bags of rice, which is about 30 percent of the normal harvest. She planted about an acre of maize, but harvested none at all.

No seed, no harvest

Danfakha is sitting in front of her home, with her four-year-old grandson on her lap. The boy is quiet, and seems to have little energy. Danfakha says she is feeding everyone in the household regularly, despite the fact that the food she grew last year lasted only two months after the harvest in November. Usually she grows enough to last four months. She says she is meeting her family needs with money sent from her daughter, who is digging for gold in a nearby mining area.

When the rains start, Danfakha’s daughter will come back to help her prepare her fields and plant. “I think we will have to cover our needs growing groundnuts,” she says. “I don’t have enough rice seed, but I think I have enough groundnut seed.” When her daughter comes back they will have no income from mining while she works in the fields, so it is a calculated risk.

“The situation is difficult here. There’s a problem of rain,” Danfakha says. “It’s been irregular. If there’s not enough rain, there won’t be a harvest. And if there is no seed, there’ll be no harvest.”

Oxfam is collaborating with local organizations in Kedougou to help farmers there and in other areas of West Africa with crucial agricultural support, so they can plant this spring. Oxfam is also planning work that will help keep drinking water clean and safe, and provide food or short-term employment for cash wages, so farmers can meet their food needs over the summer while they work their fields.