The LandGriffon Methodology — Summary Version

LandGriffon is a software service that helps companies assess risks and impacts from agricultural production in their supply chains and analyze possible futures. In this blog we summarize the methodology used by the LandGriffon platform.

Introduction

LandGriffon uses satellite data and modeling approaches to spatialize company supply chain information to enable companies to take action now with the information they have. As LandGriffon provides a holistic picture of company agricultural supply chain impacts, companies can answer questions such as:

• What materials, business units, regions or suppliers are the largest sources of impacts and risks?
• Where are the greatest opportunities to reduce impacts and risks?
• Are we making progress against our targets and is this progress likely to be sufficient to achieve those targets?

Every company has unique aspirations, environmental reporting needs, and supply chain visibility. LandGriffon provides a flexible framework with a baseline set of indicators that can be customized for individual companies and can evolve over time.

Though LandGriffon is a commercial service, the LandGriffon methodology and software source code are published openly in order to foster trust, collaboration, and continued innovation. You can download the full methodology from our website.

What company supply chain information does LandGriffon use?

LandGriffon users import company data on the agricultural materials they use in order to estimate their impacts. At a minimum, LandGriffon requires data on the amount of each material. More precise information about where materials are sourced from, such as the country, administrative region, or the point of production, enable LandGriffon to generate more accurate estimates of environmental impacts. Users can also include information about business units and other relevant company data to enhance their analysis (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Example spreadsheet of company sourcing data for LandGriffon. Users may choose to include materials, suppliers, the information they have about where materials are produced, and the volume of materials sourced each year.

When exact production locations are not known, LandGriffon models the likely locations using maps of agricultural crops and livestock production. Providing more detailed location information increases the accuracy of the model. For example, if a company knows the country its crop is grown in, LandGriffon only looks at crop-producing areas in that country. If they know the country in which they received delivery, LandGriffon uses international trade data, from sources such as resourcetrade and Trase, to estimate the likely source (Figure 2). The LandGriffon software can be deployed within corporate infrastructure so that sensitive data does not leave the corporate network.

Figure 2. Company supply chain location information is turned into heat maps of where materials are most likely to have been produced. The method used for mapping these locations depends on the type of location provided by users.

How does LandGriffon measure environmental impacts?

LandGriffon calculates indicators of environmental impacts such as water use, land use, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss associated with agricultural production. These indicators are calculated by combining company sourcing data with global environmental datasets, such as Copernicus Global Land Service, Global Forest Watch and Aqueduct.

Landgriffon is built on open access data produced by leading researchers, NGOs, and government programs such as Copernicus, making it easier for you to take advantage of this scientific knowledge.

LandGriffon calculates indicators per ton, then multiplies that by the total tonnage of each material sourced from each location across the entire company supply chain. The method used depends on the precision of the location data provided by the company and whether the indicator measures impacts occurring within current farmland (farm level impacts) or across the broader landscape (landscape level impacts).

To calculate farm-level indicators

If the exact point of production is provided, the indicator is based on the value of the indicator dataset(s) at that point. If the location information is less precise, LandGriffon calculates an average indicator value across the modeled likely areas of production (Figure 2). More material is assumed to be sourced from locations with higher production, so impacts or risks in those areas are considered to be greater.

To calculate landscape-level indicators

LandGriffon additionally includes the risk of impacts to surrounding areas when calculating landscape level indicators, using a default radius of 50km. This accounts for deforestation or habitat conversion in areas nearby to historical producing regions that may be caused directly or indirectly by demand for materials. For example, if a company sources palm oil from a plantation in Aceh, Indonesia, the landscape-level deforestation risk indicator would be based on the area of forest loss occurring within a 50km radius of the plantation location.

How can users benefit from LandGriffon’s analysis and forecasting functionalities?

LandGriffon performs impact calculations automatically on imported data. We provide tools for visual and quantitative analysis, to export data, and to create forecasts or future scenarios simulating changes in procurement and impacts (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Example table showing historical and forecasted impacts by region. Maps, charts, and data can be customized, filtered, and exported for further analysis.

Users can define future scenarios through a combination of growth rates and interventions. Growth rates set the rate in which material purchases and associated impacts are expected to increase across the company or per business unit. Interventions allow users to simulate changes and alternatives in sourcing, including:

• Working with farmers to reduce environmental impact and increase yield.
• Changing product recipes or fiber types and content.
• Sourcing the same materials from producers with lower environmental footprints.

Users can compare scenarios to historical data, to each other, and to company targets. This enables users to evaluate the tradeoffs between different pathways and identify the actions needed to meet their environmental goals.

To learn more about the science and technology of LandGriffon, you can download the full methodology from our website.

Interested in what LandGriffon could do for your company?

Contact us now at hello@landgriffon.com

LandGriffon is developed by Satelligence and Vizzuality, and advised by the Stockholm Environment Institute and their Trase Initiative.

Thank you Mike Harfoot, Elena Palao, Francis Gassert and Rens Masselink for preparing the methodology.