Aerial view of a transition forest area
Sentinel: Social and Environmental Trade-Offs in African Agriculture
Increasing agricultural production to meet rapidly growing demand for food – predicted to rise in sub-Saharan Africa by 150% by 2050 – while safeguarding vital ecosystem services and promoting social equality, lies at the heart of sustainable development.
Sentinel is an interdisciplinary research project led by IIED, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund of the UK Research Councils. It is seeking to address the challenge of achieving ‘zero hunger’ in sub-Saharan Africa, while at the same time reducing inequalities and conserving ecosystems.
Partnership between UK and African research organisations enhances their capacity to investigate these challenges through a participatory process that combines state-of-the-art research with effective engagement with research users.
Over four years Sentinel aims to understand the challenges, trade-offs and synergies inherent in working towards these development goals in three African countries – Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia.
This knowledge will help governments, policy makers and the private sector to make better-informed decisions about land use, agricultural practices and investments so that food security can be improved while limiting the loss of biodiversity and protecting social equality.
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