A look at how people most affected by climate change are coping and what Oxfam is doing to help them address these challenges.
Oxfam believes that the injustice of climate change lies in the fact that the people most likely to be the most severely affected by climate change did the least to cause it. While we are all focused on COVID-19, extreme weather, rising temperatures, and changing rainfall patterns are hitting people living in poverty first, and worst.
The following photos show how people are affected and adapting to climate change, and what Oxfam is doing to address these challenges:
Supporting women to secure food in Guatemala
Poor rains in the Dry Corridor in Guatemala destroyed Clenda Marisol Ramírez Pérez’s maize crop. In 2019, more than 78 percent of the corn and bean harvest was lost in Guatemala. Now, farming families like Pérez’s require food assistance to feed their kids. Oxfam analysis reveals that women are serving as the last line of defense against their family’s hunger—migrating in search of better opportunities for their families.
Building resilience in Ethiopia
Oxfam has been part of a rural resilience program to give farmers new ways to manage risks from increasingly erratic weather. Here, Hadush Atsiba participates in a project in Tigray, Ethiopia, that will pump water up to reservoirs on a steep hillside to water vegetables and wheat.
Cultivating seeds of change in Vanuatu
Meriam Tasaruru, chair of a community disaster and climate change committee in Vanuatu, is planting a strong-rooted grass along the shore—part of an effort to slow the erosion of the beaches that has accompanied sea-level rise. Working with local governments, Oxfam has helped 50 communities form disaster and climate change committees and prepare for emergencies.
Want to learn more about Oxfam’s programming and advocacy to fight climate change? Read more stories here.