Have you ever picked up a packet of nice fresh green beans from Kenya as part of your weekly shop?
On a recent trip to Kenya, Oxfam Ireland staff Niamh Carty and Clare Cronin drove past the miles of polytunnels where green beans, among other things, are grown on huge industrial farms. We shared the road with trucks ferrying this produce to Nairobi Airport from where it is then flown to Europe.
Just 60 kilometres away in the north of Kenya, people are facing extreme hunger as a result of drought. In fact, one person is estimated to be dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, as the Horn of Africa faces into a possible fifth failed rainy season.
Oxfam’s Fixing our Food briefing calls out the myth that there is a world shortage of food.
Hunger is rising all over the world as food production increases and profits in the food industry soar. 64 new food billionaires have been created since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Oxfam is calling for a radical re-think of our unequal global food system and their new briefing paper de-bunks 10 common myths on what drives global hunger.
Given Ireland’s history of famine, the juxtaposition of food exports with hunger was especially resonant. Niamh Carty, Oxfam Ireland’s Director of International Programme, noted: “We spent days in Northern Kenya witnessing people suffering food shortages and extreme hunger, in drought-ravaged communities where the ground is scorched and arid. On the drive back to Nairobi, that changed very suddenly. We saw acres and acres of polytunnels, boasting vibrant green, part of an industrial agriculture system that feeds us here in Europe – and not the hungry people just 60 kilometres away. Our global food system is broken, and the poorest and most vulnerable are paying the price.”
One such person is John (Ekamais Erinyok ) who lives in the village of Narengewoi in Turkana County, Kenya.
Oxfam in Kenya’s Humanitarian Strategist, Everlyne Situma, sets the scene in this region where rains have been erratic for at least the past eight years: “You notice the emaciation of people, how they have really wasted away, no muscle left just bone. Year by year they have lost or had to sell the livestock they depend on and now they have nothing.”
Oxfam Ireland is working with partners in the region to provide direct cash transfers to families in need in their home communities. 75% of the estimated 877 households in Narengewoi village are supported.
When we visited John, he had just got his last monthly payment of 8,698 Kenyan Shillings. That is €72.98 for John, his wife and eight children for one month. Food inflation is rampant in Kenya, and we asked John to show us what sort of food that allows for.
The family have one meal a day consisting of one kilo of maze and one kilo of beans. John explains that many displaced people have now moved to Narengewoi to be near a place with a cash transfer system. The local custom is to share whatever food is available so that further reduces what any supported family has to eat.
In terms of food inflation, the cost of the staple, maize has gone from 90 Kenyan Shillings a kilo some months ago to 230 Kenyan Shillings a kilo now*.
Oxfam is working with our local partners to increase payments in line with inflation where possible.
*We do not have a definite timeframe for this increase
Photos and video footage of John / from Narengewoi Village, Turkana County available upon request
Oxfam Ireland’s Pre-budget Submission calls for a wealth tax and broad windfall tax which could yield millions to tackle the cost of living crisis at home and uphold Ireland’s commitments internatyioanlly, including on Overseas Development Assistance and climate finance
Irish wealth tax and broad windfall tax could yield billions per year, enough to help address cost of living crisis and keep overseas aid commitments
Oxfam Ireland calls for Budget 2023 to tackle poverty and rising inequality in Ireland and across the world
The introduction of an Irish wealth tax as well as a broad-based windfall tax across all industries generating extreme excess profits, not just the energy sector, could generate billions in new revenue, says Oxfam Ireland. An Irish wealth tax alone at low rates of 1.5% and 2% on levels of net-wealth greater than €5 million and €50 million respectively could yield €5 billion per year. Oxfam Ireland’s proposal for a broad-based windfall tax beyond the energy sector has been recommended by the IMF to help build social solidarity and address inequality. This revenue could cover vital budget contributions in Ireland to help address the cost-of-living crisis nationally as well as meeting life-saving commitments globally on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate finance.
In their Pre-budget Submission, published today (01.09.22), Oxfam Ireland called on the Irish Government to deliver a Budget 2023 that addresses both national and global issues, including by tackling rising inequality.
Speaking on the submission’s launch, Chief Executive Jim Clarken said: “As Ireland continues to address the economic fallout of COVID-19 as well as the ongoing impact of the climate crisis and the conflict in Ukraine at home and across Europe, it has never been more imperative to think and act like global citizens and deliver a budget that demonstrates this kind of solidarity.
“Two years on from the beginning of a global pandemic and in the middle of a global food and cost of living crisis, people are facing impossible situations, at home and across the world. These crises are not one-off events, nor are they outside of our control – they are driven by global inequality which is rising in every way, including across wealth, income, gender and race.
“Our call for a wealth tax and a broad windfall tax could tackle the extreme rise in inequality we’ve witnessed over the last two years – where billionaire wealth soared and food and energy companies’ profits skyrocketed while decades of progress on ending extreme poverty were reversed and millions of people face hunger and destitution.”
Oxfam is also calling on the Irish Government to effectively tackle the climate crisis by addressing extreme carbon inequality where the top 10% of the Irish population by income levels emit nearly as much as the bottom 50%. The development organisation is urging the Irish Government to implement measures targeting excessive and luxury emissions and ending subsidies for high emitting sectors, enabling those who contribute most to climate change to take responsibility for addressing the issue.
Clarken continued: “Budget 2023 is an opportunity to create a fairer, more sustainable and human economy – one that recognises the significant threat our planet is facing and the deadly impact this is already having on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
“Right now, one third of Pakistan – a country that contributes less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions – is under water. While across drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, 22 million people are facing crisis levels of hunger. The collective carbon emissions of these three countries are 0.1 percent of the global total.
“It’s clear that we’re long past the time for talking and instead need to take radical action. This includes introducing policy measures that target excessive and luxury emissions, for example private jets. It’s preposterous that the super-rich continue to prioritise convenience and indulgence over investment in righting the wrong they’ve most contributed to.
“As well as working to reduce carbon emissions at home, Budget 2023 needs to see an increase in both the quantity and quality of climate finance to those countries hit hardest by extreme weather and disasters.”
Among Oxfam Ireland’s pre-budget asks, the following are priority in addressing global poverty and inequality:
Increase Ireland’s ODA budget in Budget 2023 by €233m and set us on a path to reach the target of 0.7% of Gross National Income spent on ODA by 2030.
Support immediate cancellation of 2022 and 2023debt and interest payments for all low and middle-income countries so that they can recover from the deadly threat of Covid-19, climate and conflict.
Introduce a Wealth Tax and Windfall Tax to fund measures to help address inequality and poverty in Ireland and globally
Ensure climate action addresses extreme carbon inequality by targeting excessive and luxury emissions, ending subsidies for high emitting sectors and implementing a comprehensive just transition process.
Increase Ireland’s climate finance contribution to ensure that Ireland is contributing its fair share, which we estimate would be between €340m to €840m per year taking past emissions and wealth into account.
Increase resources and personnel to the Irish Refugee ProtectionProgramme to ensure that Ireland meets its resettlement pledges, especially given the number of conflicts and crises worldwide forcing millions to flee.
Download Oxfam Ireland’s full pre-budget submission here.
Oxfam Ireland is proposing that a windfall tax be levied on extreme excess profits in large companies. Regulators should be tasked with imposing fines or other relevant measures to prevent windfall taxes being passed on to consumers, as is the case with the Spanish and Italian model of windfall taxes. In 2021 the IMF supported broad based windfall taxes on excess profits to help build social solidarity and tackle inequality- see here and here.
Ten years since the first tents were pitched in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan’s, almost 82,000 Syrian refugees are still living there, facing increasing precarity as shrinking incomes, rising prices and spiralling debt drive them further into poverty.
Over the past decade, caravans have replaced tents and Za’atari has become the biggest Syrian refugee camp in the world with more than half of the population children.
“Syrian refugees in Jordan are facing a burgeoning humanitarian crisis. Global shocks have compounded the vulnerabilities of refugees, whose savings are long depleted after a protracted exile; 93% of Syrian refugee households are now in debt,” said Hannah Patchett, policy and media manager for Oxfam in Jordan.
A series of external crises have created economic turmoil in Jordan, from the economic fallout of the Syrian conflict to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently the Ukraine crisis, pushing Syrian refugees to the brink.
In Za’atari refugee camp, around a third of refugees have reduced the number of meals they eat and more than two-thirds have had to buy food on credit, according to the UN. Food prices have soared: the cost of food increased by 22% in shops in Za’atari during just four months in 2022.
“Global shocks have compounded the vulnerabilities of refugees, whose savings are long depleted after a protracted exile; 93% of Syrian refugee households are now in debt,” Hannah Patchett, policy and media manager Oxfam in Jordan While each refugee receives JD 23 ($32) in monthly food vouchers from the World Food Programme, this doesn’t meet basic needs. “The price of five litres of cooking oil has risen from JD 7 to JD 16. We have nothing left after buying rice and sugar,” said Mahmoud, a father in Za’atari refugee camp.
Oxfam is responsible for waste management in Za’atari and provides short-term work opportunities to refugees in roles such as waste collection and recycling. Over the past two years, Oxfam has provided temporary work to more than 10,000 refugees in Za’atari camp. These opportunities are a lifeline, but they are at risk from shrinking funding.
Amid competing global crises, humanitarian funding for Syrian refugees in Jordan is in decline. As of July 2022, the Jordan Response Plan for the Syria crisis does not have 90 per cent of needed funds.
Up to 1.3 million Syrians have taken refuge in Jordan, of whom 675,000 are registered with UNHCR. With no end in sight to their displacement, Syrian refugees also need longer-term solutions, including a chance to build meaningful futures. “
Donor countries must increase funding to Jordan to help refugees and vulnerable Jordanians meet their basic needs in the short-term, and to support Jordan’s economic recovery and growth so all Jordanians and refugees can fulfil their potential,” said Patchett.
“Protection and support for refugees is a global responsibility. Beyond providing financing, high-income countries must also welcome more Syrian refugees. With the Ukraine crisis, Europe has shown its capacity to provide refuge. More must be done to include Syrian and other refugees: The right of refuge is universal; it must not be selective,” she added.
Notes to editors
•Za’atari refugee camp was established on July 29, 2012.
•The camp is divided into 12 districts and is served with 32 schools, 8 health facilities and 58 community centres.
•Za’atari has a young population: 55% are children. More than half of families in the camp have a family member with disability, while 42 per cent of families have at least one member with a chronic illness. •Each refugee living in the camp receives a JD23 (32USD) monthly WFP voucher for in-kind assistance, which is insufficient for basic needs.
•UNHCR recorded in 2021 a 7 per cent drop in employment for refugee individuals of working age in Za’atari compared to April 2020.
•There has been an 11.8 per cent increase in the number of child marriages in Syrian refugee camps in 2022 compared to 2019.
•UNHCR’s 7th regional intention survey, found that in 2022, 94 per cent of Syrian refugees living in Jordan are not planning on returning to Syria in the next year, compared to 73 per cent in 2018.
•Oxfam is responsible for all waste management in Za’atari refugee camp and runs two recycling facilities in the camp, reducing the burden on Jordanian landfills. Through cash-for-work programmes, Oxfam has provided more than 10,000 income opportunities to refugees in Za’atari during the past two years in waste collection, recycling and community engagement.
Contact information
Spokespersons are available, kindly contact:
Jassar Al-Tahat | Media and Communications manager in Jordan
Yemen is facing unprecedented rises in the price of food putting millions more people in danger of catastrophic hunger, Oxfam warned today.
Already exhausted by over seven years of conflict, Yemen has been hit hard by the worsening global food crises. The prices of wheat, flour, cooking oil, eggs and sugar have all increased by more than a third since March. Such price hikes haven’t been seen since the country was subject to a blockade and never for such a prolonged period.
Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food, including 42 per cent of its wheat from Ukraine. Importers have warned that stocks may run out in the coming months and that global increase in costs will challenge their ability to secure wheat imports into Yemen. Even after last week’s welcome announcement that Ukraine will be able to export grains, the effects of the major disruption in the food supply will be felt for some time to come. Any drop in global prices could well be short-lived and may not translate into a reduction in cost for ordinary Yemenis. In a country where many people depend on bread for most of their daily food to survive, this could push millions towards starvation.
Ferran Puig, Oxfam in Yemen Country Director, said: "This unprecedented rise in food prices threatens the lives of millions of people who are now in real danger of starvation.
“Families who have been pushed to the brink by seven years of conflict are being tipped over the edge as the prices of basic food rises beyond their reach.
“World leaders must act immediately to prevent catastrophic hunger and a worsening humanitarian crisis.”
A temporary extension to the Yemen-wide truce in June has bought some relief, but the situation remains volatile and this, coupled with a wider economic crisis, rising food prices and an ailing agricultural sector – due in large part to the effects of climate change – is making life even harder for the Yemeni people – nearly 80 per cent of whom are in need of humanitarian assistance while the humanitarian response remains only 27 per cent funded.
Between March and June this year, the price of basic foods increased by up to 45 per cent.
-Flour increased by 38 per cent
-Cooking oil increased by 45 per cent
-Sugar increased by 36 per cent
-Rice increased by 30 per cent
-Canned beans increased by 38 per cent
-Powder milk increased by 36 per cent
-Eggs increased by 35 per cent
The average national price of the Minimum Food Basket (MFB) has increased by 48 per cent since December 2021 and 25 per cent since the start of the year, with the increasing costs of food imports further exacerbated by exchange rate fluctuations. Yemen’s national currency, the rial, has lost its value by 28 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Petrol and diesel prices also increased by 43 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Increased cost of fuel and an unseasonable drought caused by rising temperatures globally have caused more suffering, especially for farmers. Many Yemenis depend on agriculture and livestock as a main source of income but have seen their crops damaged or delayed and livestock dying during the current drought.
As the need grows, the lack of resources to respond comes with devastating consequences. The World Food Program has been forced to reduce the amount of aid it provides, with five million recipients of food aid now set to receive less than half of their daily calorie requirement. Eight million will receive just 25 per cent.
Families told Oxfam that to survive they are having to borrow from better-off neighbors, go into debt with food sellers, and skip meals so their children can have more to eat.
Around 56 per cent of the four million internally displaced people have no source of income at all. Women and children who make up around 77 per cent of the displaced population are at greatest risk of starvation.
Arwa, a divorced mother of two who also cares for her mother and sister said: “I struggle to afford basic food due to high prices. My mother and I reduce how much we eat, and only have two meals a day, so the children have enough. Before we could have chicken or fish every other day, or meat once a week, now we barely afford to have chicken once a week and prices of vegetables increased so we can’t afford even half of what we could last year.”
Oxfam in Yemen is supporting people to earn a living, providing basic services like clean water, sanitation, cash, and establishing solar energy at household and community levels. In 2021 we were able to help more than 23,000 households.
Oxfam is calling for the international community to facilitate the import of food supplies into Yemen by reducing obstacles, financing grain imports, and providing debt relief for Yemen.
Above all, Yemen needs a permanent end to conflict so people can safely live, learn, and earn a living. We are calling on all parties to extend the truce in the coming days as part of the path towards a sustainable peace.
WFP beneficiaries in IPC phase four and five will now receive less than 50 per cent of their daily calorie requirement. The remaining eight million will receive just 25 per cent.
Food inflation in Ethiopia reaches 44%, almost five times the global average
Food inflation in East African countries has increased dramatically, reaching a staggering 44% in Ethiopia – nearly five times the global average.
This comes alongside a catastrophic hunger crisis due to the worst drought in decades, only exacerbated by the global food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.
It is estimated that one person is likely dying every 48 seconds in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. In Somalia, where a “risk of famine” was recently declared, nearly half the population – over seven million people – face acute hunger.
Against this backdrop, food billionaires have increased their collective wealth by $382bn since 2020. Less than two weeks’ worth of their wealth gains would be more than enough to fund the entirety of the US$6.2 billion UN appeal for East Africa, which is currently woefully funded at a mere 16 percent.
Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland, said: “A huge amount of wealth is being captured at the top of our global food supply chains, meanwhile, decades of progress on ending extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive.
“This fundamentally broken global food system – one that is exploitative, extractive, poorly regulated and largely in the hands of big agribusinesses – is becoming unsustainable for people and the planet and is pushing millions in East Africa and worldwide to starvation.
“We need to reimagine a new global food system to really end hunger; one that works for everyone. Governments can and must mobilise enough resources to prevent human suffering.”
People in East Africa spend as much as 60 per cent of their income on food, and the region over-relies on imported staple food. For example, food and beverages account for 54 percent of Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Ethiopia, compared to just 11 percent in Ireland. While many people in affluent countries are struggling with the increased consumer prices, their counterparts in East African countries are facing hunger and destitution.
In Somalia, maize prices were six times higher (78%) than global prices (12.9%) in May 2022 than they were 12 months before. In some regions, the minimum food basket expenditure has soared to over 160% compared to last year. The cost of one kilo of sorghum – a staple food – was more than 240% higher than the five-year average.
In Ethiopia, food inflation soared by 43.9% since last year. Cereals prices increased by 70% in the year to May, more than double the global increase
In Kenya, the price of maize flour, the main staple, has doubled in seven months and rose by 50% in just a month (between June and July 2022). Rising food and energy prices will increase poverty by 2.5 percent, pushing about 1.4 million Kenyans into extreme poverty.
In South Sudan cereals prices in May were triple their levels a year earlier, while the price of bread has doubled since last year. The average price of cereals has been higher than 30% of the five-year average.
Global food prices have hit a 50-year high and worldwide there are now 828 million people going hungry – 150 million more than at the start of the COVID pandemic. The Ukraine conflict has caused a huge spike in grain and energy prices but these have only worsened what was already an inflationary trend. This means, even when food is available, millions cannot afford to buy it.
Clarken continued: “To help countries enduring the hunger crisis cope with rising food prices, rich nations must immediately cancel debt for those countries – which has doubled over the last decade – in order to enable them to free resources to deal with the skyrocketing prices and to import needed grains.
“To end the root causes of hunger, world leaders must better regulate food markets and ensure more flexible international trade rules in favor of the world’s most vulnerable consumers, workers and farmers. Governments and donors should support small-scale farmers who in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa provide more than 70% of the food supply.”
Food inflation over the last year in Ethiopia (44%,) Somalia (15%), and Kenya (12%) is exceeding the G7 (10%) and global average (9%).
One year food inflation up until May 2022 for Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia was sourced from Trading Economics. The G7 average from the OECD (up to May 2022) and the global average from the ILO (the latest data available is up to March 2022).
Data on food and agriculture billionaire wealth was drawn from Oxfam’s Profiting from Pain report and is for the period of March 2020 to March 2022. Two-weeks increase in food billionaires' wealth would correspond to $7.3 billion.
In Kenya, the price of maize flour, the main staple, doubled in seven months (KES 108 in Nov 2021 for 2kg packet; KES 210 in July 2022).
Oxfam, together with partners is supporting the most vulnerable people in East Africa with lifesaving food, cash assistance and water and sanitation services. It aims to reach over 1.3 million of the most vulnerable people.
