Background
For a job that employs a huge percentage of the world’s population, family farming can be a tremendously precarious way of life.
No one ever said farming was an easy job. Both time- and labor-intensive, farming is prone to the risk of drought, blight, and other natural factors that can wipe out a season's work in the blink of an eye.
But these days, the same occupation that sustains the majority of poor people in developing countries has become more difficult than ever. Here are just a couple of the additional pressures family farmers face:
- Growing water shortages—In Cuba, Ethiopia, southern Africa, and beyond, chronic drought and water shortages threaten millions. Today, over one billion people lack access to a safe water supply.
- Globalization and trade—Now that world markets are open, family farmers in West Africa are competing with much larger growers. Fortified by government subsidies, these large growers can dump their products on foreign markets at prices below the price of production.
Oxfam supports small farmers to confront these and other challenges and to achieve a more secure existence.