Research

Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) quarterly report: January 2011–March 2011

Rural resilience series

Oxfam America Mid-­‐Term Climate Change Campaign Evaluation Executive Summary

This is a final report of iScale’s mid-­‐term review of Oxfam America’s (OA) Climate Change Campaign (CCC). The purpose of the review is to assess the effectiveness of OA’s campaign efforts to influence US policy and leadership in international fora as well as its efforts to promote greater action on climate change through its country assistance programs. As a
member of Oxfam International (OI), OA carries out the majority of its policy and campaign work in conjunction with OI. The CCC in the US and the climate change work of other OI affiliates (Oxfam Great Britain and Oxfam Australia) were designed to contribute to the objectives of the OI Climate Change Campaign.

The Right of Indigenous Peoples to Prior Consultation: The Situation in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

This study illustrates the barriers to exercising the right to prior consultation and consent in each of these four countries, and is intended to encourage broad debate.

Impact of the US-Colombia FTA on the small farm economy in Colombia

This in-depth economic study assesses the potential effect of agricultural provisions in the US-Colombia FTA on Colombia’s small-scale farmers using data from official and reputable sources to carry out a comparative statics analysis.  It concludes that a significant number of small farm households would see substantial drops in their income as a result of the FTA. This would result in a deeper vulnerability for a population that has already been disproportionally affected by Colombia's internal conflict.

This FTA would force Colombian agricultural products to compete without any protection against US subsidized commodities.  As a result, according to this study, Colombia’s 1.8 million small farmers would see their net agricultural income fall by over 16 percent on average.  The damage would be concentrated among nearly 400,000 small farmers, most of whom now earn less than the minimum wage but who would lose between 48 and 70 percent of their income.  If 400,000 small farmers, who on average have less than five years of formal education, lose their livelihoods, their employment options will be limited.  They are likely to take up coca cultivation, engross the files of illegal armed groups, or migrate to urban areas to join some 5 million Colombians – over 10 percent of Colombia’s total population - forcibly displaced from the countryside over the last 12 years, the great majority of whom live in extreme poverty.

Ghana's Oil Readiness Report

Civil society groups in Ghana have produced a report on the country’s readiness to deal with the challenges and meet the expectations of joining the league of oil producing nations.

Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States

The "Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States" is the product of a unique for-profit/NGO joint venture of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation and United Farm Workers (UFW), with support from Oxfam America. By compiling and analyzing data from multiple federal, state, and private sources, it renders the most comprehensive picture yet of the reality faced by America’s least-valued yet critically important workforce.