Oxfam America http://www.oxfamamerica.org These are the search results for the query, showing results 1 to 7. In the grip of drought http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/slideshows/in-the-grip-of-drought Ethiopians find ways to fight back No publisher Coco McCabe ACT FAST Ethiopia Horn of Africa climate change food security global food crisis humanitarian relief hunger livestock natural disaster water 2011-07-18T15:01:19Z Audio Slideshow Link Take Action: Global Food Crisis http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/take-action-global-food-crisis Already 854 million people on our planet suffer from hunger. Now, as food prices climb high and fast, conditions are becoming worse and threatening the well-being of millions more people. Since late 2007, as many as 100 million others—no longer able to afford the food they need—have joined the ranks of the hungry.

]]> No publisher mborum Central and East Africa Central and South Asia East Asia Fast for a World Harvest Horn of Africa Hunger Banquet Southern Africa West Africa agriculture food security humanitarian relief hunger livelihood livestock natural disaster public health refugees water 2010-08-09T19:47:33Z Campaign Publication Fixing up the land, little by little http://www.oxfamamerica.org/articles/fixing-up-the-land-little-by-little Farmer Lucas Izapo says it could take three or four more years to recover his land. Part III of III The last day of our trip we went to the La Voz Que Clama en el Desierto cooperative. The name means 'The Voice That Cries Out in the Desert.' It is located in Solola, the area that was hardest hit by Stan. The cooperative's harvest was down by 45 percent, from seven containers to four. Eighty-nine of the 140 members had been directly affected by the landslides the storm caused, which destroyed their plots of land.

"One part was washed out by the landslides," cooperative member Lucas Izapo told us. "Before Stan, the land was thick with coffee plants, everything was covered with coffee plants. When the landslide came, it took the coffee bushes with it. The hill was left bald, and covered in rock.

"Now I am fixing up my land, little by little. But it's not going to take a year to fix it, it'll take three, four, or more years before this part is back to normal. Because it isn't easy to build walls. This year I planted living fences with Yucca and Bower Vine. And little by little I am going to make a stone wall, to protect the coffee from the rain that falls [each winter]."

The cooperative was able to support its members with the donation of new coffee plants to replace the older ones, organic fertilizer, and $62 for each member. They needed to make this investment to care for the plants they still had left.

They cooperative also repaired the channel that drains the coffee washing stations. This was essential to renew their fair trade certification; without this certification their income would drop even more.

Like other places in Guatemala, farmers in Solola lost much of their corn. Lucas said it has been difficult to feed his family of 10.

"I had to work even harder to sustain us, because I didn't have my harvest which was lost the year before. I lost 160 to 200 pounds from that corn harvest. So I had to plant tomato and onion and sell it to buy the corn that I used to grow for myself. Little by little I was able to buy the corn—100 pounds, another 100 pounds—because I grew these other crops."

]]> No publisher Tjarda Muller coffee Central America trade environment Guatemala humanitarian relief agriculture 2010-08-18T19:34:24Z Feature Story Coffee cooperatives still rebuilding after Stan http://www.oxfamamerica.org/articles/coffee-cooperatives-still-rebuilding-after-stan How Guatamalan coffee cooperatives are recovering from heavy rains. Part I of III It has been a year and a half since Hurricane Stan destroyed the town of Panabaj in Guatemala, and left hundreds of families without the means to earn a living. The pain that the storm caused is still palpable. Land and coffee plants lost in landslides will reduce the earnings of small coffee producers for at least three or four years. That's how long it takes for new coffee plants to grow, flower, and bear fruit for the first time. Oxfam America released $100,000 from its emergency fund to help 10 coffee cooperatives rebuild. With the end of this project nearing, Oxfam America staff traveled to Guatemala to visit some of the cooperatives, and talk to the people who participated in the projects.

Recovering the coffee crop is not a quick endeavor. In the majority of cases it will be three or four years until the harvest is at its normal level. And cleaning up the destroyed plots of land also takes time. It is an additional task that the coffee growers had to undertake in the moments when they weren't tending to the crops spared by the storm.

The first cooperative we visited was ASUVIM, in the province of Quetzaltenango, where we spoke with the president of the cooperative, Daniel Balux. The principle problem this cooperative faced was that nearly 30 percent of its harvest was affected by black bean, a deformation of the coffee bean that cannot be seen when the coffee is harvested, but only once it is dried. It changes the color and the taste of the coffee, disqualifying it from the gourmet and fair trade markets.

Can you tell us about the black bean problem?

Actually, we detected it here at the mill. We saw that we had black beans, but we didn't think it was so extensive, we thought it was just the first beans. But as we continued with the harvest it was the same. It was the whole harvest. The coffee looked good as parchment coffee but if we look at them all—the ones with a different color, they are black beans. We can't say that our members brought in bad coffee, because the cherries looked good, they didn't even look a little rotten or anything like that. The coffee was good. You can't say to the people, look, bring us better coffee or chose it better—[but] of course when they cup this coffee the cuppers will say it is green coffee, coffee that didn't reach its full maturity. So the aid for the black bean was something necessary [to compensate for the low price]. So, what did we do after all this? Well, thanks to the help that came from you, at least the members got their normal price. At least we could say to them, 'Look, the coffee was shipped at this price, but we are going to help you a little bit and we are going to pay you this much.' The people saw that at least there was an effort behind all this."

In addition to this monetary compensation that was given to the members, what other actions did ASUVIM take to overcome the crisis?

Here 60 percent of what people earn comes from coffee. If there are problems with the coffee, there are problems in the families. Either there is little schooling, or people are unable to complete projects they had planned or there isn't much food. Here in ASUVIM we also helped out with corn. We gave each member 800 pounds of corn. Part of it we donated, the other part the members had to buy. Each family of six consumes about 1,600 pounds of corn per year. [They lost 80 percent of the harvest.] What happened with the 20 percent that they were left with? They ate it in January, maybe into February, but by March they had to buy corn. Then the problem is that when there is high demand for corn, the price rises. So we helped them with this, with 800 pounds. We think it's 50 percent of the corn they eat, we could now say that at least they had corn to eat.

The other damage we suffered as an organization is related to the landslide here next to the patio where we sun dry the coffee. With the rain, little by little, we were losing more of it. So we were faced with an emergency. Either we did something or our patio would collapse. And the more time that passed, the worse it was. So we received aid from Oxfam America because the construction is big. But it was necessary because if we lose the patio, it'd be an additional expense.. We are still constructing, but we are making the wall. We aren't doing something that is simply going to fall apart next year and then we would have to invest in it all over again. We want to invest, to spend and if that means chipping in ourselves, we do it.

]]> No publisher Tjarda Muller coffee indigenous people Central America trade environment Guatemala humanitarian relief disaster risk reduction agriculture 2010-08-18T18:45:24Z Feature Story Oxfam in South America http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/oxfam-in-south-america To their government officials and to the corporations who want to exploit their lands and natural resources, the indigenous and rural people of South America have a simple, yet important message: "We are here." Since 1984, Oxfam America has helped them voice this message in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru—by strengthening farmers' organizations, women's groups, and indigenous associations that represent poor communities. With a stronger voice and the right skills, indigenous and rural people can manage their lands, promote their rights and cultures—and build a better, more prosperous future.

]]> No publisher Oxfam America natural resources indigenous people disaster risk reduction climate change trade environment South America land oil, gas and mining humanitarian relief Peru minority rights women Bolivia agriculture transparency Ecuador equality for women 2009-06-09T20:49:25Z Brochure OXFAMExchange Winter 2005 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/winter-2005 Come Together: Building a movement to overcome poverty and change the world Hunger and poverty need more than quick fixes. While people need food, clothing and shelter to survive, they will never attain self-sufficiency and prosperity in an unjust society, no matter how much short-term aid is available.

For that reason Oxfam America's duty is clear: We and our project partners must help reform government policies, laws, and social injustices that deny people the right to live a decent life. We do this by providing funding, training, and the moral support people need to make real, substantive and transformative changes. The courageous and visionary people who do this work are setting out to build a movement for social justice—and Oxfam America is one of the few organizations to which they can turn for the help they need.

]]> No publisher mborum Darfur Horn of Africa Make Trade Fair Peru South America Sudan United States agriculture humanitarian relief indigenous people land minority rights trade workers' rights 2009-04-30T19:43:25Z Oxfam Exchange OXFAMExchange Fall 2002 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/fall-2002 What's in your coffee? Oxfam's coffee campaign. Plus Afghanistan, Make Trade Fair campaign, and the Hopi people's struggle for clean, safe drinking water. What's in your coffee? Oxfam's coffee campaign. Plus Oxfam in Afghanistan, Coldplay support Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign, southern Africa food crisis, and the Hopi people's struggle with an energy giant.

]]> No publisher mborum Afghanistan coffee indigenous people natural resources East Asia Make Trade Fair public health trade United States Central and South Asia oil, gas and mining humanitarian relief water 2009-04-30T21:05:19Z Oxfam Exchange