These Humanitarian Policy Notes describe Oxfam International's experience and position on the key issues facing humanitarian action in the twenty-first century.
Oxfam calls for more appropriate responses to food crises. In-kind food aid is the dominant humanitarian response. It indisputably saves lives in many cases, but it is highly over-used - and is often used when other forms of aid could better address human needs. This over-reliance on food aid must be corrected by emphasising appropriate aid that empowers people, restores dignity, and directly addresses the assessed needs of people at risk.
Oxfam believes that more appropriate responses to food crises depend upon:
- More sophisticated assessment and analysis of needs in order to inform responses
- Development, promotion, and application of a wider range of response options
- Donor policies that ensure adequate, timely, and flexible resources are available to support appropriate aid; and
- A coherent global food security architecture to guide more effective global response.
