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Women and gender-diverse people represent an important constituency in the food value chain. Among all working women globally, about one in three works upstream in the food value chain. These women face increasing barriers to safety, recognition and advancement. Yet very little about their experiences has been documented. In the limited instances where the women who power global supply chains have been put into focus, most have concentrated on the experiences of women workers in the apparel sector., Through desktop research, one-on-one interviews with local organizations, case studies and workshops, this paper provides information and guidance on how investors, who are well-positioned to encourage companies to advance gender equity upstream in company supply chains, can help reshape this narrative and encourage companies to act.

This paper looks at the effect of unfair trade policies on coffee growers in developing countries. 25million coffee growers face severe threats to their livelihoods as a result of declining profit margins linked to the falling price of coffee in the international market. The price of coffee has fallen by 50 percent in the past three years to a 30-year low. Families of developing-country coffee farmers are facing severe economic challenges that many have had to pull their children out of school for lack of financial capacity. This paper examines the coffee value chain and traces the problems associated with it to the free and liberalised international market. It recommends possible solutions and makes a case for a Coffee Rescue Plan which brings together all the stakeholders in the coffee industry. The paper relies on both primary and secondary data for its analysis.

Since 2001, levels of inequality and extreme poverty in Brazil have fallen, the result of various socioeconomic factors. The paper particularly notes the positive impact of policies supporting wealth redistribution, such as increases in the minimum wage, expansion in social security coverage, and support for small-scale agriculture. Yet, a stubborn concentration of income, wealth, and assets amongst a minority remains. The author concludes that further progress will require radical urban, land, and fiscal reforms, along with greater political efforts to combat gender and racial discrimination

In an increasingly market-led global economy, prosperity has been created in some parts of the world while poverty continues to claim livelihoods in others. This dichotomy according to this report is created by the unfair rules that govern this global interaction called trade. The human cost of unfair trade are immense. The report states that if Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Latin America were to each increase their share of world's export by one percent, the resulting income gains could lift 128million people out of poverty. Rich country governments put up severe trade restrictions in form of tariff barriers that are four times higher than those faced by the rich countries themselves. The paper gives an in-depth analysis of the injustice inherent in current international trade rules and seeks to expose the effects of these on the poorer countries of the world. Based on extensive literature review of background research papers and use of secondary data from diverse sources, the report concludes that trade rules need to be adapted to accomodate the poor.

The global food system works only for the few – for most of us it is broken. It leaves billions of us lacking sufficient power and knowledge about what we buy and eat and the majority of small food producers disempowered and unable to fulfil their productive potential. The failure of the system flows from failures of government – failures to regulate, to correct, to protect, to resist, to invest – which mean that companies, interest groups, and elites are able to plunder resources and to redirect flows of finance, knowledge, and food. This report describes a new age of growing crisis: food price spikes and oil price hikes, devastating weather events, financial meltdowns, and global contagion. Behind these, slow-burn crises smoulder: creeping and insidious climate change, growing inequality, chronic hunger and vulnerability, the erosion of our natural resources. Based on the experience and research of Oxfam staff and partners around the world, Growing a Better Future shows how the food system is both a driver of this fragility and highly vulnerable to it, and why in the twenty-first century it leaves 925 million people hungry. The report presents new research forecasting price rises for staple grains in the range of 120–180 per cent within the next two decades, as resource pressures mount and climate change takes hold. For more on interpreting the food price scenarios outlined in Growing a Better Future, see the Note on Food Price Scenarios added in November 2011. The report is now also available as an eBook, presenting expanded versions of case studies from Bolivia to Malawi, alongside new papers and research which develop and update the main themes of the report. The iBook edition is optimised for use on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, and includes a video endorsement from Brazil’s former President Lula da Silva and a short documentary on India’s failing food system. It is available to download free from the iBookstore. The standard EPUB edition is suitable for iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices, and can also be accessed in full using a desktop eBook reader or Calibre. Its smaller file size means it is more suitable for a low-bandwidth connection. A Kindle edition is available from the Amazon Kindle Store.

This is a critical look at the agrofuels industry in Brazil. Focusing on ethanol production from sugarcane and the production of biodiesel, the study examines the impact of government policy regarding agrofuel production on the country's farming sector and its consequent effects on food security and rural development in Brazil, a leading player in global agrofuel production. Comparing both ethanol and biodiesel production, it establishes that ethanol production is a hugely successful industry dating back to the 1920s while biodesel production is still much an emerging market created and regulated by the government and launched as early as 2004. The paper analyses the dyanamics of the production of these two agrofuels with specific focus on social, gender, food security and environmental implications of their production using three regional case studies. The study is based on a review of secondary data, journalistic information, technical reports, public policy, academic publications and a wide range of interviews with stakeholders.

This report summarises the seminar held in Rio de Janeiro on July 12-13, 2007 focusing on Agrofuels and its consequent effects on family and peasant farming within the context of Brazilian agriculture and rural development. The paper is divided into three chapters ranging from the context and problems relating to agrofuels in Brazil to the challenges and prospects for agrofuels in the country. Each chapter was a presentation at the seminar and the paper later discusses the ideas within the debate and tries to identify the key points raised at the seminar. The event was based on the initiative of the Working Group on agriculture of REBRIP (Brazilian Network for the Integration of the Peoples) and FASE (Federation of Agencies for Social and Educational Assistance), with the support from ActionAid Brazil, the Heinrich Boll Foundation and Oxfam International., Chapter I; Context and problems related to agrofuels in Brazil, Jean Pierre Leroy (FASE), Chatper II; Inputs for the discussion on agrofuels in Brazil, John Wilkinson and Selena Herrera (CPDA/UFRRJ), Chapter III; Challenges and prospects for agrofuels in Brazil: family agriculture in relation to ethanol from sugarcane and biofuel from soybean, castor bean and palm oil, Célio Bermann (coordinator), Luis Macedo Swarthy, Mariana Soares Domingues and Renato Rosenberg (IEE/USP)

Brazil's transition from an authoritarian regime to a democracy has been supported by the institutionalisation of efforts to integrate citizen participation into policy-making. This paper traces the roots of citizen participation in the development of diverse community movements from the 1950s onwards, and the democratic movement that emerged from these. As a result, the 1988 federal constitution established a range of institutions to support the integration of civil society organisations into formal policy making. Twenty years on, the author describes the range and diversity of opportunities for citizen participation that exist in Brazil, and lists numerous positive social outcomes. Current challenges are analysed, such as the reluctance of some public managers to share power - particularly in economic policy-making - and recent managerial reforms of the state which fail to integrate the constitutional vision. Ongoing investments in civil society capacity will be essential for meaningful engagement to be sustained.

Despite the fact that inequality and poverty are closely linked, for several decades multilateral organizations, government and even development agencies have prioritized economic growth and the fight against poverty as the objectives of their debates and policies, leaving inequality to one side. As a result, efforts to tackle inequality have been insufficient. Oxfam has calculated that if inequality in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region were to be reduced by five points between 2011 and 2019, some 17.4 million people could move out of poverty. If the opposite were to occur, a five-point increase could result in an additional 18 million people living in poverty., This report explores the causes of inequality in the LAC region, the impacts it has, and makes recommendations for how it can be tackled.

Economic inequality has reached extreme levels. From Ghana to Germany, Italy to Indonesia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. In 2013, seven out of 10 people lived in countries where economic inequality was worse than 30 years ago, and in 2014 Oxfam calculated that just 85 people owned as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity., Extreme inequality corrupts politics and hinders economic growth., It exacerbates gender inequality, and causes a range of health and social problems. It stifles social mobility, keeping some families poor for generations, while others enjoy year after year of privilege. It fuels crime and even violent conflict. These corrosive consequences affect us all, but the impact is worst for the poorest people., In Even it Up: Time to end extreme inequality Oxfam presents new evidence that the gap between rich and poor is growing ever wider and is undermining poverty eradication., If India stopped inequality from rising, 90 million more men and women could be lifted out of extreme poverty by 2019., This report delves into the causes of the inequality crisis and looks at the concrete solutions that can overcome it. Drawing on case studies from around the world the report demonstrates the impact that rising inequality is having on rich and poor countries alike and explores the different ways that people and governments are responding to it., The world has woken up to the gap between the rich and rest. From Spain to South Africa, and Peru to Pakistan, people are already demanding a world that is fairer. This report supports a new campaign to join this growing movement to end extreme inequality and Even it Up.

Since it was launched in 2003, Brazil's Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) strategy has allowed 28 million people to break free from the cycle of hunger. These impressive figures suggest that public policy can have a significant impact in the fight against hunger. This report looks at some of the conditions contributing to the success of the strategy, including political will combined with a plan that is coherent, consistent, multidimensional and participatory., The United Nations launched the Zero Hunger challenge in 2012, and countries and regions around the world are looking at the lessons from Brazil's experience. In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has initiated a process for achieving Zero Hunger in West Africa., An editorial by the West Africa GROW campaign and a preface by Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2008-2014) are included in the French report and as separate documents in English. The editorial reflects on the practicalities and challenges in terms of social mobilization and the region's capacities to carry such an ambitious initiative. How can the necessary political will be ensured in a region of diverse states?

The food system is a complex web of people, businesses, organizations and governments involved in the production, distribution, sale and consumption of food. Irrespective of who we are or where we are on the planet, the food we eat is made available by this global food system. But at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this system is not working properly - it leaves nearly one billion people hungry every day. It is obvious that the food system needs fixing, but the sheer size and complexity of the system can seem overwhelming; and the power of some of the corporations and governments involved is daunting. Urgent action is needed to change the policies and practices that play a huge part in the broken food system. This report shows the connections between the global food system and our daily lives. It looks at households in towns and cities in six countries: Brazil, India, the Philippines, Spain, the UK and the USA. Oxfam gathered information from 5,000 women about food prices, food choices, and opinions on how their food is produced. The survey results suggest a significant opportunity: households in towns and cities across the world would like to have a better food system. This report begins to explore how, together, they might bring that about.

Access to medicines is a major challenge for people in developing countries. With the right medicines, diseases such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria are treatable. Yet for millions of poor people, affordable medicines remain out of reach. UNITAID was established in 2006 as a new public health financing mechanism and a South-North collaboration. It is partially funded through an innovative airline tax that ensures stable long-term financing. UNITAID uses this unique feature to intervene in the market to make medicines for HIV, TB, and malaria affordable and available to people in low- and middle-income countries. Civil society (NGOs and communities affected by the diseases) plays an important role in influencing UNITAID policies and strategies. This document has been produced for the Civil Society Delegations to the UNITAID Board, and aims to encourage more civil society organisations to engage, so that UNITAID benefits from our collective inputs.

Driven by upward trends in the number of climate-related disasters and human vulnerability to them, by 2015 the average number of people affected each year by climate-related disasters could increase by over 50 per cent to 375 million. This figure is likely to continue to rise as climate change gathers pace - increasing the frequency and/or severity of such events - and poverty and inequality force ever more people to live in high-risk places, such as flood plains, steep hillsides and urban slums, while depriving them of the means to cope with disaster. Climate change is a human tragedy that threatens to completely overload the humanitarian system. The potential human costs are unimaginable, and will be borne overwhelmingly by those least responsible for causing the problem: the world's poor.

Almost 250 million people around the world are affected by climate-related disasters in a typical year. New research for this report projects that, by 2015, this number could grow by 50 per cent to an average of more than 375 million people - as climate change and environmental mismanagement create a proliferation of droughts, floods, and other disasters. The predicted scale of humanitarian need by 2015 could completely overwhelm current capacity to respond to emergencies - unless the world acknowledges and responds to the growing threat. Even in daunting economic times, the world can afford to meet future humanitarian needs and fulfil the right to survive of vulnerable people. The skills and resources exist to mitigate the threats from climate-related catastrophic events. Some countries - rich and poor - have already demonstrated the political will to do just that. This report shows that the humanitarian challenge of the twenty-first century demands a step-change in the quantity and nature of humanitarian response. Whether or not there is sufficient will to do this will be one of the defining features of our age - and will dictate whether millions live or die.

Malawi is one of the worlds least-developed countries, ranked number 166 of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index. The government of Malawi, with help from the international community, has made a genuine effort to improve health care in recent years.This report has revealed that there are still three key challenges for essential health services in Malawi; access to essential medicines, access to health services, compounded by user fees, especially in CHAM hospitals and the human-resource crisis.

This document argues that racism is a central force perpetuating socio-economic inequality in Brazil, which is one of the world's most unequal countries in socio-economic terms. The origins of racism in Brazil go back to the trade in African slaves. The notion, long widespread, that Brazil is a ﾓracial democracyﾔ keeps preventing recognition of racial inequality. But this is deep and persistent; it imprisons black Brazilians in a vicious circle of poverty, academic setbacks, limited access to goods and services, discrimination in the labour market, and violence. The black movement, well established in Brazil, has fought for measures to be taken by public bodies to combat racism. The most recent achievements include: establishing a legal framework for fighting racism; a series of political discussions, lectures and conferences on racism; creating institutions to promote racial equality and the appointment of blacks to high official positions. It remains to highlight the issue of institutional racism at every level.

Arms are out of control. Arms kill more than half a million men, women, and children on average every year. Many thousands more are maimed, or tortured, or forced to flee their homes. The uncontrolled proliferation of arms fuels human rights violations, escalates conflicts, and intensifies poverty. The time for world leaders to act is now. to confront this crisis, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) have together launched an international campaign calling for effective arms controls to make people genuinely safer from the threat of armed violence. This volume provides a hard-hitting analysis of how abuse of small arms across the world is fuelling poverty and suffering.