Press releases

Food inflation in some East African countries outstrips the global average leaving millions hungry, while food billionaires increased their wealth by $382bn over the last two years.

As G7 leaders head to Biarritz, France, and President Macron promises to make the fight against inequality a priority at this year’s Summit, Oxfam says that the G7 are actively fueling inequality at home and across the globe.

Six months after a historic five-season drought, massive floods have inundated vast swaths of farmland across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, right in the middle of the harvest season. Over four million impacted people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, warned Oxfam today. 

Poverty pay, harsh working conditions, and gender discrimination are commonplace on the farms and plantations that supply tea, fruit and vegetables to supermarkets such as Lidl, PLUS, and Whole Foods reveals new research published by Oxfam today.

Human-rights abuses are commonplace in farms linked to major European supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, new Oxfam research reveals. The organisation calls on the EU to introduce new legislation that requires companies to respect the human rights of people working in their global supply chains.

In reaction to today’s "Global Report on Food Crises” which says that more than 193 million people across 53 countries are experiencing acute hunger and require urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance, Oxfam Global Food Security and Livelihoods expert, Emily Farr, said: “It is deeply concerning to find extreme hunger increasing to a magnitude never seen before. 40 million more people have been pushed to extreme hunger, nearly a 25% surge since last year, and 80% since 2016."

One in five people (282m) is now under-nourished and 93 million in 36 African countries are suffering extreme levels of hunger. Women and children are hit hardest. In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in three children under five is stunted by chronic undernutrition while two out of five women of childbearing age is anemic because of poor diets.

A year on since the UN warned of “famines of biblical proportions”, rich donors have funded just 5 percent of the UN’s $7.8bn food security appeal for 2021. More than 200 NGOs published an open letter today calling upon all governments to urgently increase aid to stop over 34 million people, from being pushed to the brink of starvation this year.

Oxfam and partners are delivering urgent aid to people affected by the severe flash floods in Bangladesh. Millions of people are stranded and in desperate need of aid.

The influx of over half a million people fleeing Sudan’s conflict meant that transit centers in Renk – a border town in neighboring South Sudan- are swelling with people three times their capacity, with more than 300 people sharing one water tap. The lack of clean water and sanitation is increasing the risk of cholera, warned Oxfam today.