The project Efficient and Low-disturbing Biofuels Policies (ELOBIO) hasorganized 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.

A new version of the “Harmonized World Soil Database” (HWSD) has been uploaded. Soter-based soil parameter estimates for D. R. Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Senegal and Gambia have been included. The data was made available by the International Soil Reference and Information Center (ISRIC) and is described in Batjes 2007 and 2008.