What Oxfam is Doing
- Promoting Economic Opportunity
- Increasing Political Participation
- Preventing Conflict
PROMOTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Oxfam America assists West African farmers and other small-scale business people make a decent living, voice their concerns to government, and build peace in conflict areas.
The majority of farmers, traders, entrepreneurs, and other business people in West Africa operate in the "informal" market, paying no taxes and using few government services. These farmers, artisans, and other small businesses lack the training, capital, raw materials, and tools they need to get a fair return for their labor.
Governments don't always recognize this reality; their development plans and programs are geared to benefit larger businesses, and do not reflect the credit, training, new technology, and information needs of the informal sector. Considering the tremendous commercial potential of the region, much can be done to improve the income and economic security for millions of people.
Oxfam America helps organizations that provide training and popular education to farmers and female entrepreneurs: programs that improve business skills—including reading and arithmetic—and savings and credit programs that finance businesses and help them save for the future. Of equal importance is training for the staff of organizations that advocate for improved governance and pro-poor policies that will increase economic opportunities for workers in the informal sector.