The interactions between food security and land use, both now and over the next few decades, are of paramount interest to policy, science and society at large. These interactions have been identified as of common interest to both the Belmont Forum and FACCE-JPI and hence are the focus of the Belmont Forum/FACCE-JPI Collaborative Research Action. The ultimate goal of the Call was to rapidly evolve the knowledge base that is needed to develop innovations and support decision-making towards sustainable land use planning and practices, i.e. innovations, strategies and policies targeted at enhancing food security as well as preserving the environment. More information about the background of the scope, its Call partners and the guidelines for applicants can be read in the respective documents or on the Belmont Forum website.

The Call resulted in seven funded projects:

Type 1 - Short-term Community Building Projects

• SAFGOV: Food System Governance, Food Security and Land Use in Southern Africa
• THESIS: Hydro-social and environmental impacts of sugarcane production on land use and food security – an international programme to foster trans-disciplinary science, networking and community building
• SMARTS2: Sustainable Management of Agro-ecological Resources for Tribal Societies 2

Type 2 - Medium to Long-Term Integrated Projects

• AFGROLAND: African Food, Agriculture, Land and Natural Resource Dynamics, in the context of global agro-food-energy system changes
• DEVIL: Feedback Loop Interactions Between Land Use Change and Food Security Dynamics
• ABC Telecoupling: Food Security and Land Use: The Telecoupling Challenge
• FICESSA: Food Security Impacts of Industrial Crop Expansion in Sub-Sahara Africa

Project information including abstracts can be found on the dedicated section of the Belmont Forum website as well.