1. What is Agroideal’s purpose?
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) built Agroideal as a pre-competitive tool to assist all stakeholders involved in the beef sector to plan the purchase, investment and sustainable intensification of the production in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Our main purpose is to improve knowledge about these biomes by integrating the socio-environmental commitments assumed by the sector into the business planning. We also aim at contributing to the evaluation of new sustainability challenges. We hope that stakeholders directly related to the sector and all the society can benefit from the tool. Agroideal was designed to support the creation of a collective territorial knowledge that can help users to plan future sustainable land use.
2. Can I use Agroideal to evaluate the impact of socio-environmental commitments on my business strategy?
Yes. Agroideal brings a series of socio-environmental indicators that allows users to evaluate the stock of at-risk areas by considering different commitments: for example, the Amazon TAC (Terms of Conduct Adjustment) agreement, the Slave Labor List, and other initiatives being discussed by the beef sector. For example, if a company is planning to expand its portfolio with producers who have signed the TAC agreement, Agroideal could be used to verify the areas that meet the production requirements of the business strategy (economic opportunity tab). The tool could also be used to evaluate the stock of at-risk areas according to the commitment of zero conversion of natural areas in the Cerrado. In this case, the indicators of natural vegetation can be combined with the pasture area, the registered areas in the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry), the cattle stock and the PRODES deforestation, in order to assess the risk of buying animals from recently deforested areas. The greater the stock of native vegetation surrounded by pastures and with higher deforestation rates (PRODES Cerrado), the greater the risk of non-compliance with environmental commitments in that region. Thus, a company can assess where there is a higher reputational risk related to non-compliance with commitments within its region of influence, and where efforts toward new strategies to minimize risks should be intensified within that area. By evaluating the risk in all regions, the company can create commitment implementation plans that fit its operational capacity.
3. Can I monitor my supply chain with this tool?
No. Detailed maps are required to monitor the supply chain through the assessment of land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics within farms. Detailed information is required to ensure accuracy in the supplier-blocking process. The monitoring systems work on a local (farm) scale. Property monitoring is usually carried out by a company specializing in farm-scale based geo-technology, allowing high levels of accuracy of LULC maps and precise estimation of the suppliers’ location. A historical series of satellite images are used in the farm to access changes in LULC and their long-term impacts.
Agroideal differs from farm-monitoring systems because it offers a set of maps that is usually updated annually, offering an alternative for land-use planning at a regional scale (biome, meso and microregions, states, municipalities, and smaller regions within municipalities).
4. When should I use Agroideal?
You should use Agroideal whenever you need to make decisions related to regional investment in purchasing and intensification of the cattle ranching with the least possible socio-environmental impact. Agroideal is a system that provides information with qualified geographic data that allows experts to decide in which regions they should invest or what actions they should take to minimize environmental impacts in the region of interest. The focus is on medium-to-long-term business planning that may help to define the regions with the lowest socio-environmental risk for the investors’ business plans.
Agroideal is an option for both strategic planning discussions and rapid risk assessments. By crossing the maps presented in the “LAYERS” tab, users can make rapid decisions based on the characterization of the regions. For example: where do I find the largest stock of degraded pasture with the highest opportunity for cattle ranching intensification?
In the “STRATEGIES” tab, users can perform multi-criteria analysis by answering complex questions involving different economic and socio-environmental indicators. For example: which beef production areas should be prioritized for animal purchasing? Where are the regions with the highest natural cattle carrying capacity combined with low risk of land conflicts, and the best CAR coverage?
5. What makes Agroideal different from other tools already available?
Agroideal is the first tool created to assist the agribusiness sector to invest in the sustainable intensification of cattle ranching and to support the sustainable purchase planning. It differs from most of the existing tools because it combines production information and economic opportunities for the sustainable intensification, especially in areas of degraded pastures. Another difference is that experts of the beef sector suggested, discussed and selected all the indicators included in Agroideal, which helped to turn it into a precompetitive spatial intelligence tool.
Agroideal is the first online free tool designed to help sustainability teams to assess the risks associated with the business plans. The system allows users to act preventively to reduce the socio-environmental impacts of companies and, consequently, the reputational risks related to commitments.
Agroideal uses a multicriteria analysis method to create a socio-environmental risk map fully customized according to the users’ sustainability policies or their specific perceptions of risk. Therefore, the system is more than a static risk map, allowing the customization of dynamic shareable scenarios.
6. Does Agroideal Livestock bring new information to the meat sector?
Currently the system has some indicators developed exclusively for the sector, such as the map of degraded pastures and areas with greater potential for intensification of livestock. The map of degraded pastures was developed by the TNC in collaboration with the Image Processing and Geoprocessing Laboratory – LAPIG of the UFG using an innovative method for areas with strong seasonal influence such as the Cerrado and Chaco (understand the method at https: // www .mdpi.com / 2072-4292 / 10/11/1761 / htm).
The degradation map allows estimating possible additional costs in grazing, creating financing portfolios for its recovery, or directing more suitable areas for forest recovery. The map of potential areas for intensification of cattle ranching was developed by TNC in partnership with Agrosatélite Geotecnologias, NWF, WWF and Embrapa CNPTIA, also receiving contributions from Agroideal Beef working group. The scenario allows evaluating the areas with the greater intensification potential considering aspects of production, logistics and natural suitability of pastures.
7. Who defined the indicators available in Agroideal?
All Agroideal layers and indicators have been defined by a group of experts in the beef sector who work in companies, NGOs, consulting companies, associations, research institutes, and banks. We dedicated 12 months to discuss about risks and opportunities for the cattle ranching intensification; we carried out specific discussions, interviews with originations, and business-planning agents. Our partners in this initiative are: Agrosatelite, Agroicone, Amigos da Terra, Minerva, Marfrig, Rabobank, LAPIG, WWF e NWF.
8. Who built the tool and who coordinates it?
TNC and Bunge conceived Agroideal. They invited key actors in the beef sector to jointly build a pre-competitive tool that would gather essential and unprecedented information for the sector. Agroideal is a tool proposed to help users on planning the purchase, investment, and sustainable intensification at the most important production regions of the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, allowing socio-environmental commitments to be incorporated into the planning of future actions. Several partner institutions built Agroideal: Agrosatelite, Agroicone, Amigos da Terra, Minerva, Marfrig, Rabobank, LAPIG, WWF e NWF. TNC coordinates the working group and develops the tool in partnership with Agrosatélite Applied Geotechnology and SuperNova Design, with the financial support from Bunge and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Agroideal belongs to the working group, which defined its basic requirements allowing the implementation of an online, free, customizable, and secure tool that will be constantly improved. The system is part of the Collaboration for Forest and Agriculture (CFA), a cooperation between TNC, WWF and NWF, created to stimulate the production of soy and beef free of deforestation.
9. How should I interpret the final risk-exposure map?
The risk-exposure map is the result of the ponderation between the economic opportunities and the socio-environmental risks according to the selected indicators, based on the question the users have in mind. A region with a higher risk rating should be carefully evaluated, considering the indicators selected by the users. In the results’ report, it is possible to verify the final weight of each of the selected indicators within the final risk map. By identifying the indicator with the most significant negative impact, it is possible to set up action plans that minimize the risk associated with the specific high-risk indicator. For example, if a company buys from a group of farmers located in a high-risk region, this company can implement some actions in that region. Actions that could be considered: 1) Efficient monitoring of deforestation in the region; 2) Constant monitoring of farms in the region to ensure there is no regional leakage; 3) Estimation of the production capacity in the region and monitoring of the volume of purchases; 4) Request the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) information and provide financial incentives to facilitate the development of Environmental Compliance Plans (PRAs), Restoration Project for Degraded and/or Disturbed Areas (PRADA), and the Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRA), among others.
10. Should I avoid the regions marked as high-risk zones?
Not necessarily. Agroideal’s major goal is to provide an indicator of previously-assessed opportunities and risks to support decision-making on how to operate in a specific region. The final map should not be considered as a guide of areas in which users should or should not invest. The tool was created to support decision-making and not to provide a final action plan. The main purpose of Agroideal is to provide tools that support the creation of a collective knowledge to define future land use actions. Thus, the regions included in Agroideal should be considered as spaces of social planning and action.
Based on the most relevant indicators concerning high-risk zones (orange and red), users can evaluate actions within a region to mitigate future risks, always keeping in mind their socio-environmental commitments. The mitigation strategies can be adopted whenever the region presents high economic opportunities and high socio-environmental risk.
For example, consider a region with a high stock of degraded pastures. Traders or banks are likely to be more interested in developing a financing program in these areas. The region, however, presents high environmental risk due to the low proportion of areas registered in the CAR. By investing in the region, the possibility of leakage might increase due to deforestation not observed in areas with no CAR, and companies could buy products that are not in compliance with their sustainability policy. Therefore, these regions should be monitored more frequently and more rigorously by companies. Alternatively, public authorities could define a more intensive monitoring plan in those regions. Associations can intensify awareness-raising work on sustainable production. NGOs can support producers by disseminating good production practices, and geo-technology companies can assess which areas should be used for prioritizing cattle ranching intensification. In this case, natural areas should be used to compose both the Legal Reserve and the private Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), as well as Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRA). Finally, results should be used to support future actions of multiple stakeholders toward a common goal: investment in the sustainable development of a region considered to be at risk.
11. Are all strategies generated by Agroideal the same for all users?
That depends. The strategies will only give the same result for different users if: 1) the same indicators are selected in both the economic and the socio-environmental tabs; 2) the selection of maximum and minimum thresholds is similar, and 3) if the same weights are assigned to the same indicators. The tools available in Agroideal were designed to provide different business plans, according to different objectives of specific users of the tool.
12. Are the strategies saved in users´ folders available to other users?
No. The system does not share the strategies created or saved by users. Sharing is only possible if the user sends a shareable link to another person.
13. How often is the data updated?
The data is updated according to the availability of up-to-date databases provided by source institutions, usually on an annual basis. Daily data, such as IBAMA embargoes, for example, are updated monthly.
14. Is the system open? How was it implemented?
Yes, Agroideal is an open system that allows integration with other systems. The back end was developed in Python language using the Flask Framework, and the front end was developed in HTML and javascript languages, using the JS Framework and the OpenLayers library. The database server is PostgreSQL with the PostGIS extension, and the map server is the MapServer. Agroideal’s homepage is based on WordPress Framework implemented in HTML and javascript languages. Our entire structure is configured in the Amazon Web Service (AWS).
