The Strategic goal of the Land Use Change and Agriculture Program (LUC) is to support policymakers in developing rational, science-based and realistic national, regional and global strategies for the production of food, feed, and bio-energy to achieve sustainability of land and water resources, safeguard food security while promoting rural development.

IIASA, TIFAC and the MSE hosted a capacity building workshop on Land Use Planning with a focus on Agriculture, in Chennai, India on April 15-16. IIASA staff held lectures on an integrated modeling framework for ecological-economic analysis of food and agriculture development, the FAO-IIASA AEZ system for spatial analysis of food, feed and energy crop land use options, and examples of spatially detailed assessments of national strategies for agricultural development. link to lectures L1, L2, L3, L4.

Mahendra Shah attended a Roundtable discussion on responsible agricultural investment (RAI) on April 25, 2010 in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted by the government of the United States, the government of Japan, and the African Union Commission together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Bank. The purpose was to discuss proposed principles for RAI developed by FAO, IFAD, UNCTAD and the World Bank. Attached is a statement by Mahendra Shah in the Roundtable discussions.

The Article Gulf Cooperation Council food security: balancing the equation by Mahendra Shah was published online on April 25, 2010 by Nature.com. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with a total population of ~40 million, of whom 40% are foreign workers, are endowed with oil and gas reserves estimated at some USD 35 trillion This puts the region's nationals among the world's richest peoples in terms of per capita wealth. However, although the region's economic and energy security are assured, the GCC countries are the world's most water insecure and food deficient, importing 60–90% of their food requirements. The article points out the utility and relevance of IIASA's global database for assessment policy options for food security and sustainable agricultural development more.

The latest special issue Volume 34 Issue 2 of Biomass and Bioenergy reports on detailed integrated analysis carried out in the REFUEL project, which has produced an EU road map for biofuels in transport. Researchers from IIASA’s LUC Program provided quantitative analysis of land-use dynamics, avoiding competition with food production, nature conservation and other key ecological constraints. This research on Europe’s biofuel production potentials includes land productivity potentials for biofuel feedstocks and land use scenarios. Key conclusions are that Europe will be able to produce domestically the envisaged 10% target when productivity increases on existing cultivated land can be realized in Eastern Europe. The development of second-generation biofuels is essential for a sustainable long-term future of biofuels.

The project Efficient and Low-disturbing Biofuels Policies (ELOBIO) has organized a third and final stakeholder  consultation in the form of a workshop in Brussels on 17th November 2009. The ELOBIO research project seeks to formulate efficient and low-disturbing policy options that can enhance biofuels while minimizing the impacts on food and feed markets and biomass for power and heat.
The policies, scenarios and assumptions applied in the ELOBIO modelling were developed based on comments and suggestions provided by stakeholders in earlier consultations. The purpose of this final workshop was to present our findings and to discuss policy implications and possible low disturbing policies with stakeholders. Presentations included a talk from Günther Fischer on the “Impacts of bio-fuel expansion on food system indicators and land use” (LINK to PDF of talk). Findings of a group work between stakeholders and ELOBIO researchers will be integrated in the final policy recommendations.

By invitation of the FAO, Mahendra Shah attended the High level Expert Forum (HLEF) on “How to feed the World in 2050”, 12 to 13 October 2009, Rome. The HLEF discussed how the world can feed nine billion people in a sustainable way, given the challenges of land and water scarcity, climate change and the increased demand of agricultural resources through the energy sector. The results of the HLEF will contribute to the World Summit of Heads of State and Government on Food Security, 16-18 November 2009.

The project on "Integrated Nitrogen Management in China" (INMIC) carried out under the umbrella of IIASA's "Greenhouse Gas Initiative" (GGI) is a collaborative effort between Land Use Change and Agriculture Program (LUC), Atmospheric Pollution and Economic Development Program (APD) and Forestry (FOR)

Mahendra Shah attended a meeting, called by the US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on Partnering for Food Security held on September 26, 2009, at the U.N. Trusteeship Council Chamber, New York. The meeting focused on key principles on how to achieve food security: (1) investment in country-led plans; (2) support for humanitarian assistance, sustainable agricultural development, and nutrition; (3) strategic coordination of assistance; (4) the role for multilateral institutions; and (5) a sustained commitment of financial resources based on the Joint Statement on Global Food Security at the L'Aquila G-8 Summit in July. more

In preparation for the High Level Expert Forum on "How to Feed the World in 2050" FAO Rome an expert consultation was held in FAO Rome in June 2009. Guenther Fischer of the IIASA Land Use Change and Agriculture Program presented, in this expert consultation, a paper entitled “How do climate change and bio energy alter the long-term outlook for food, agriculture and resource availability” (paper, presentation)

At the 27th Conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists in Beijing 16-22 August, 2009, the CATSEI project organized a symposium with the title “Big events, big impacts in China in the 21st Century: Trade, Biofuels and climate change and environment, land use and poverty”.

The LUC program with collaborators from CCAP and SOW-VU  presented a paper developed under WP 4 of CATSEI on “Environmental risks and impacts of China’s agriculture” addressing the topics of climate change, modeling risks of ground-level ozone crop damages in China, and agricultural nitrogen surplus management and emissions. The CATSEI symposium took place on Wednesday, 19 August.

The final report of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) commissioned study carried out by the Land Use Change and Agriculture Program at IIASA was released during a side event of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development meeting (CSD 17), organized jointly by IIASA, the Austrian Government and the OPEC Fund for International Development in New York on May 6, 2009. The comprehensive assessment report entitled "Biofuels and Food Security" is available in print and in a downloadable electronic version (pdf). OFID and OPEC have also included three articles on this study in their most recent Bulletins: OFID Unveils Biofuel Study (lead article) and two articles in the OPEC May Bulletin.