SENTINEL: Social and environmental trade-offs in African agriculture

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Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF)

ECI lead: Dr Monika Zurek (Co-I)

SENTINEL was an interdisciplinary research project which sought to address the challenge of achieving ‘zero hunger’ in sub-Saharan Africa, while reducing inequalities and conserving ecosystems.

Led by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), it involved a range of higher education institutions and stakeholders in the UK and across Africa. The University of Oxford component was led by Prof Nathalie Seddon (Department of Zoology) and Dr Monika Zurek, and focused on building agricultural development scenarios and strengthening capacity of UK science to address development challenges.

Our work

Sentinel research focused on Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia while working with a wider network of stakeholders and universities across Africa and the UK to share lessons and build capacity.

  • Knowledge: Through co-production of novel scientific research, the project generated new knowledge on the impacts, risks and trade-offs within and between social, economic and environmental dimensions of different agricultural development pathways that relate to Sustainable Development Goals 2, 10 and 15.
     
  • Relationships: The project created and strengthened collaborative research partnerships between UK and African organisations, to maximise responsiveness to development challenges and foster a deeper understanding of sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.
     
  • Research capacity: Sentinel will enhanced the capacity of researchers in the UK and Africa to investigate sustainable development challenges using a more interdisciplinary, participatory approach.

Find out more on the SENTINEL website 

Publications