Improving Livelihoods for Smallholder Farmers

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of the world’s poorest people make a living from agriculture. Yet smallholder farmers are increasingly exposed to the risks of climate change, extreme weather and economic instability.

In addition, gender inequality presents a major barrier to advancing sustainable development in rural communities, with women particularly vulnerable to job insecurity, low wages and precarious livelihoods.

Our Aim

As part of our work to eradicate poverty and hunger, we want to empower smallholders to improve their livelihoods, ideally to achieve a living income, and access sufficient, nourishing food for their families. We prioritise initiatives to help people build resilience in the face of risk and the increasing impacts of climate change, and through all our efforts, we seek to promote gender equality and decent work while helping farmers to adopt sustainable practices.

We work with smallholder farmers, providing them with agricultural and business training to increase their yields – and their profits. We support small farmers to diversify crops and provide them with the tools they need to further expand their enterprises. This enables them to feed their families, give their children an education and pay for healthcare.

Our Work In Action

Ouedraogo a farmer in burkina faso — Thanks to the JESAC project implemented by the NGO A2E and OXFAM, Aguiratou has been trained in new agricultural techniques to adapt to the effects of climate change

Thanks to the JESAC project implemented by the NGO A2E and OXFAM, Aguiratou has been trained in new agricultural techniques to adapt to the effects of climate change (reduced rainfall and soil impoverishment).

She learned how to fertilize the soil with compost, how to set up stone barriers to retain water in the fields during the rainy season, and how to prevent rainwater from washing away the soil. She also applies half-moon and zaï techniques that are adapted to the climatic conditions and crop types in the Sahel region.

During the dry season, she applies these same techniques to her market gardening crops of cabbage, onions and potatoes. All these techniques greatly improve the yields.

Adopting new agricultural techniques and diversifying her activities allows Aguiratou to "bridge the gap" between two harvests and feed her family all year round.

Our Challenge To Companies

Oxfam asks companies to review how their decisions and purchasing practices affect smallholders’ ability to make a living income and transform the way they work in order to create positive impacts for smallholders and their communities.

We work with companies of all sizes, particularly in food value chains, to expand opportunities for women and men smallholder farmers, helping them to gain better access to markets, negotiate better contracts, increase production, and add value to their products. This work is fundamental in helping to secure their livelihoods in the face of climate change and resource scarcity.

Beyond this, we campaign for fair, sustainable markets. In particular, we engage with companies and governments to increase the participation of smallholders and farmer-owned enterprises in supply chains and markets in ways that benefit producers.