More than two thirds of the 650 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas and survive directly off the land.  Continuing to do so becomes a challenge to communities as their populations grow and the cultural and economic fabric of social life tears.  As a consequence of global climate change, some of the more water-starved regions of Africa are expected to experience significant decreases in rainfall and a significant increase in the variability of portions of the water cycle.  Can these societies cope with these stresses, let alone develop?  And if improving livelihoods is possible, can growth occur in ways that do not harm the environment?

Capitalizing on Princeton’s research efforts in Africa, the Development Grand Challenge will focus on the difficult balance of eliminating poverty in Africa, while conserving the continent’s wondrous biodiversity and enormous store of natural resources. Finding ‘win-win’ solutions to these problems is the overarching aim of the Development Grand Challenge.  This research cooperative will support projects that unravel the dynamics underlying compelling human-environmental conflicts and help develop strategies to improve livelihoods in environmentally sensitive ways and to foster sound resource management and biodiversity conservation practices.  One recent example of this type of interconnectedness is the research being conducted by Professors Dan Rubenstein (EEB), Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe (CEE), Mike Celia (CEE), Jennifer Widner (Politics) and Margaret Martonosi (EE).  Working together on the Ewaso Water Project at Princeton’s Mpala Research Center in Northern Kenya, the faculty are focusing on ways of creating a sustainable landscape in Africa.  By examining the linkages between hydrology, ecology and society, the group is working to understand the ecohydrology, or plant-water interactions of the area.  The role of water in shaping the ecological landscape is fundamental to the Ewaso Water Project.  Princeton and Kenyan scientists are combining field studies and computer simulations to understand the feedbacks between rainfall, runoff, soil moisture and spatial patterns of vegetation, at spatial scales ranging from individual shrubs and trees to entire hillslopes and watersheds.  Through their combined work, the researchers hope to better understand the ecological-social-policy links in the region. 

The Development Grand Challenge seeks to sponsor projects that support interdisciplinary research on balancing development and conservation and provide new educational and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. One project—Water, Savannas and Society—is already up and running and serves as a model for how research and teaching elements can be effectively integrated.  The Development Grand Challenge will foster the collective knowledge of an interdisciplinary cadre of scholars and students in order to help developing nations develop in a sustainable way.