A farmer carries produce to a local market in Lam Dong province, Vietnam. Credit: Tran Thiet Dung/Oxfam HARMLESS HARVEST How sustainable agriculture can help ASEAN countries adapt to a changing climate A better way of growing food is the best bet against climate change for Southeast Asia's small-scale food producers. Sustainable agricultureagriculture that can meet the needs of present and future generations, ensures the efficient production of safe, high-quality agricultural products in a way that protects the natural environment, and improves on the economic conditions of farmers and local communitiesoffers the best chances for countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deal with climate change. By scaling-up sustainable agriculture practices across the region, ASEAN can help feed its peoples and support the livelihoods of small-scale food producers, and help curb greenhouse gas emissions to push back the impending catastrophe.
A worker at a garment factory in Vietnam. Oxfam interviewed women and men who work at a garment factory in Vietnam 12 hours a day, six days a week. Despite their long hours, low pay means they still struggle to get by, all while producing clothes for some of the world's biggest fashion brands. Photo credit: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam REDEFINING INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN ASIAHow APEC can achieve an economy that leaves no one behind In November 2017, leaders will gather in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The last few decades have seen astonishing growth and poverty reduction across Asia, but inequality is on the rise and the benefits of growth are increasingly going to those at the top. This paper sets out how APEC leaders can use the opportunity of the summit to move in a new direction -one in which the economy works for everyone, not just the few. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAs leaders gather in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2017, they face a region divided as never before between rich and poor. After decades of leading the world in growth that benefited everyone, Asia today is rapidly becoming a region of haves and have-nots. We see this in the stark examples of wealth inequality in APEC members in Asia:• In Indonesia, the four richest men have more wealth than the poorest 100 million people. 1• In Vietnam, 210 of the country's super-rich individuals earn more than enough in one year to lift 3.2 million people out of poverty and end extreme poverty. 2• In the past two decades, twelve countries, accounting for 82% of the region's population, have registered an increasing gap between rich and poor. 3Across the region, millions struggle with ill health, especially women, while the rich can buy the best healthcare. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that around 85,000 women across Asia and the Pacific die every year as a result of complications from pregnancy and child-birth. 4 Ninety percent of these deaths could be prevented by good quality maternal care.Poor families struggle to send their children to school beyond the primary grades. In Indonesia, although the government is able to provide primary education for all, little more than half (55%) of children from poor families are able to continue to secondary school. 5 Sixty percent of the population in Asia and the Pacific have no social protection. 6 This is not surprising, especially in Asia, where social protection services account for only 6.9% of public spending, compared to 20% in advanced economies. 7Close to two-thirds (63.5%) of the world's working poor -those who live on less than $3.10 a day -are in Asia and the Pacific. 8 For many of these workers, wages are their main source of living. Unfortunately, they earn only a fraction of what they need to meet the essential requirements of a decent life. In many supply chains, wages are deliberately kept low in order to maximize profits for companies. A look into the global supply chain in the garment sector shows that for every T-shirt sold, t...
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