Imagining alternative futures

John Magrath Agriculture, Climate Change, Food & livelihoods, Food security, Methodology, Participation and Leadership, Research, Youth

Programme Researcher, John Magrath, describes the process of applying ‘participatory scenario development’ to explore how Bangladesh might achieve zero hunger and zero carbon emissions by 2041. It is tempting to assume that the future will follow much the same trajectory as the past. Imagining alternative futures can be dismissed as dreaming, or science fiction. And if we do imagine the …

Food price volatility infographic

John Magrath Food & livelihoods

Oxfam and the Institute of Development Studies published a report from four years of research in 10 countries into price volatility and its impact on the millions of people who struggle to feed their families nutritiously. The findings found more were turning to the convenience of fast food and a ‘Westernized’ diet, while communities we’re having increasing concerns about food safety and quality. …

A harvest of dysfunction: Causes and impacts of drought in South Africa

John Magrath Climate Change, Drought, General, Natural Resources, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

John Magrath introduces the report, A Harvest of Dysfunction: rethinking the approach to drought, its causes and impacts in South Africa. “Interventions to assist poor people affected by drought must start with how drought itself is defined and understood” – so says Sipho Mthathi, Executive Director of Oxfam South Africa  in her introduction to a new report that challenges the …

Latest climate change evidence confirms what farmers told Oxfam

John Magrath Climate Change

OPINION:     New research has confirmed Oxfam’s findings of many years, climate change is making life harder for farmers around the world. John Magrath, Programme Researcher, reflects on what we know and reaffirms the need for climate action. A huge study published recently in the journal Nature Climate Change confirms findings from Oxfam research that asked farmers in a …