Category: In the field
Follow stories from communities we’re working with around the world.
Interview with Mr Chheng: the man working within the system
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By Robin Narciso, Oxfam Australia Oxfam Australia, WWF and the Danish Government Aid Agency (Danida) have been collaborating with Cambodia’s Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI) to produce and provide the Cambodian Government with scientific information regarding the possible impacts of the dams on the Cambodian people. Recently, IFReDI, which is a Cambodian governmental […] Read more »
I was told “people are poor because they are lazy”
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Ibu Silosor’s husband is a fisherman. He leaves the beach and “is at his Bagan [a wooden fishing platform out to sea] by 6pm. [He]… came back [this morning] at 5am,” Silosor tells me outside her home on the small island of Lembata in eastern Indonesia. Silosor, has already salted her husband’s overnight catch of […] Read more »
Women like Maleana need the support others have
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Women play a vital role in the global food system and produce a large proportion of the food we eat; yet they have little access to land and their farm work is often underpaid and undervalued. If women farmers had the same access to resources and decision making as men, their efforts would significantly reduce […] Read more »
Promoting sustainable farming
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Women work together to bring in the rice harvest. Small-scale farmers often work on each others’ land during the busy times of year to ensure successful harvests. The 500 million small-scale farms in developing countries are critical to food security; feeding almost two billion people. In countries like Indonesia, rice is promoted widely, and is […] Read more »
Life can change for small-scale farmers like Halima
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High in the mountains of Lushoto in northern Tanzania, life has been very hard for Halima Shabani. Feeding and sending her children to school has been a constant struggle as have been the long back-breaking days tending her fields. But with support of overseas aid, life is changing for Halima and her family. Halima is […] Read more »
The Impact of Mekong Dams on Women
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One of our areas of work in the Mekong Region is ‘Hydropower and Gender’. But what does the construction of dams have to do with gender relations? Good question. I asked myself the same thing when I started my experience with Oxfam. Not because I didn’t appreciate working towards gender equality, but because I couldn’t […] Read more »
Ending hunger: the women of Lembata
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One in eight people go hungry every day. Unbelievably, 80% of those going hungry are food producers; small-scale farmers, fishermen and women, forest foragers and landless farm labourers. They produce food, yet many still go hungry. The road to Hoelea from Lewoleba on the island of Lembata is the worst I’ve ever seen. It takes […] Read more »
Surprise over the Mekong Dams: Oxfam is Turning the Tide
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The first thing that my supervisor did when I got back from my field trip last week was to place a two‑page document in my hands. ‘Take a close look at this’ he said smirking, and left. It was entitled Key consideration: food and nutrition security vulnerability to mainstream hydropower dam development in Cambodia. It […] Read more »
‘Mining has a masculine face’ – the impact of mining on women
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By Christina Hill, Mining Advocacy Coordinator Oxfam’s work shows that the impacts of mining are not gender neutral. Women often experience the negative impacts of mining more than men, and rarely receive the benefits that men do. What do these gendered impacts look like in Indonesia? Do small ‘cowboy’ mining companies – which are dominant […] Read more »
How many villages is your dam worth?
By Robin Narciso – an Oxfam volunteer in Phnom Penh How would you feel if you woke up in the morning to find out that your house AND your job has vanished into thin air? It’s hard for us to imagine in the “developed world”, but it happens every day in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and […] Read more »
