Policy papers

Rasmalar and her family are part of a rice growing co-operative in Sri Lanka (2011). Photo: Abir Abdullah/Oxfam

Tipping the Balance: Policies to shape agricultural investments and markets in favour of small-scale farmers

A recent wave of large-scale land acquisitions and other commercial investment in agriculture has raised concerns that small-scale producers are being marginalized. This report takes a new look at the role of public policy and market governance in ensuring inclusive sustainable development. It...

A little girl gleans shells on the island of Mahaba, Surigao del Sur, to augment the family income. On average, the poorest Filipino households live on less than a dollar a day, 60% of which is spent on food. (Original photo: Veejay Villafranca)

Weathering the Crises, Feeding the Future: Philippine food justice report

The continued conversion of agricultural lands, the degradation of ecosystems and the impacts of climate change have doubled the burden on agricultural communities to produce food. This combination has made the Philippines more vulnerable to global food price surges. This paper examines the issues...

Emily Alpass demonstrates how to weed an organic paddy field. Oxfam has set up a number of Field Schools, giving farmers the opportunity to learn about new farming techniques and practices, grow new vegetable varieties, learn about climate change and making their own organic fertilizers. Each field school has roughly 32 members at one time who attend sessions on a weekly basis for 6 months.Photo: Tessa Bunney/ Oxfam

Financing Adaptation or Funding Chaos?: Adaptation, Finance, and Philippine Climate Policy

As the world reels from the devastating impacts of climate change, financing sources for climate resilient development are proliferating at a rate and scale that, from initial appearance, may all but surpass traditional flows of official development assistance (ODA). Unfortunately, the scale of...

Marie Clar Labtik (50) collects shells to make jewellery, five months after Typhoon Haiyan in Pooc, Bantayan “We are poor. Because of the typhoon, we can’t rely on our husband’s work. We must work together. Women should be good models to their children and the community.” Women like Marie Clair are among the many fisherfolk of Bantayan who rely on the sea for their survival, and who remain at risk to extreme weather events like Typhoon Haiyan.Photo: Tessa Bunney/ Oxfam

Feminised Recession: Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Women Workers in the Philippines

This study on the effects of the global financial crisis has shown it as having impacted mainly on the manufacturing sector of Philippine economy where major industries have been set up primarily to service the needs of foreign markets. It so happens that such industries – electronics,...

Gerondio Ayson is 54 years old. He lives in Esperanza, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. He is married to Teodora (also 54). they have 4 children who have all now left home. They take care of two grandchildren. Jerondio and Teadora are both vegetable and rice farmers and have half an acre of vegetable gardens. They inter-crop a huge variety of veg including cucumber, green beans, peppers, jute, loofah, green chilli, eggplant, squash and banana. They learned about inter-cropping and making organi

Private Sector Investments in Land for Food and Biofuels: Investing in rural development or aggravating hunger and poverty?

The magnitude of ongoing and planned agricultural investments, as well as the positive and negative impacts that such investments have brought about in the past, call attention to the need to provide safeguards to local small farmers and smallholders wanting to involve themselves in such deals. In...