Supplemental readings from the Reader

Collier, P. 2007. Poverty reduction in Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(43):16763-16768.

3.3.1 ADDRESSING GRAND CHALLENGES: Reducing poverty in Africa There are two major poverty challenges in the world, the most serious being in sub-Saharan Africa, the region that has shown little or no improvement, or even worsening, in all the key indices of health, well-being, food security, and economic growth. A different but important challenge is the very large newly-industrializing countries such as Brazil, China, and India, who have yet to translate their rapid growth into rapid improvement in well-being for their half a billion extremely poor citizens. Efforts to address poverty generally take one of three approaches: trickle down, redistribution, and social innovation. The first approach assumes that economic growth is a key to poverty reduction and that poverty-oriented growth is even more effective. The second approach seeks to redistribute some portion of societal wealth through increasing the entitlements of the poor, the bundle of income, natural resources, familial and social connections, and societal assistance that are key determinants of hunger and poverty. The third is a bottom-up approach that seeks to improve the ability of the poor to create new livelihood opportunities, to improve their existing livelihoods, or to strengthen their ability to influence growth and redistribution policies. The Reading explores the causes of poverty in Africa concentrating on three geographic differences in resource richness, scarcity, and access to the sea. Each of these poses different challenges and require different solutions.

Socolow, R., R. Hotinski, J. B. Greenblatt, and S. Pacala. 2004. Solving the climate problem. Environment 46(10):8-19.

3.3.2 ADDRESSING GRAND CHALLENGES: Slowing climate change Human-induced climate change is endangering food security, raising sea-level rise and accelerating erosion of coastal zones, and increasing the intensity of natural disasters, species extinction, and the spread of vector-borne diseases. More serious and abrupt climate changes are also possible making climate change one of the most critical global challenges of our time. The main approach to reducing this threat include policies and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and policies and technologies that improve the capacity of nature and society to adapt to inevitable climate changes (adaptation). A third approach, just being discussed and explored, seeks to change fundamental processes such as photosynthesis or the radiative balance affecting climate change (geoengineering). The Reading addresses climate change through fifteen alternatives, each of which reduces greenhouse gasses by a billion tons of carbon per year. They include energy conservation, renewable energy and fuels, enhanced natural sinks, and carbon capture and storage. Seven of these would be required for stabilizing emissions over the next fifty years.

Bannon, I., and P. Collier. 2003. Natural resources and conflict: What we can do. In Natural Resources and Violent Conflict: Options and Actions, eds. I. Bannon and P. Collier. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, pp. 1-16.

3.3.3 ADDRESSING GRAND CHALLENGES: Limiting war, conflict, crime, and corruption War, conflict, crime, and corruption are major threats to sustainable development: directly destroying human lives, capital, infrastructure, and the environment; and, indirectly by diverting resources from development, increasing exploitation of natural resources, and encouraging personal security concerns to dominate the common good. There is evidence that conflict is reduced by equitable economic growth, increased state capacity, and inclusive democracy. Development seems to be necessary condition for security as is the reverse. But in the short term, the many initiatives at conflict prevention, peace-making and post-conflict peace-building pursued by the United Nations, the World Bank, donor states, a number of regional organizations and thousands of NGOs worked closely with UN agencies have been and can be effective. But amidst these efforts, a grand challenge is the recurrent “natural resources curse.” The Reading explores this link between natural resource endowment and conflict and what can be done about it.