Louis Dreyfus Company and ofi are early adopters of open-data platform
AdAstra has launched Orbae, a free platform designed to expose the environmental impact of deforestation and land conversion in agricultural supply chains.
It is designed to provide high-accuracy land use change emission factors for agricultural commodities worldwide, available as open data.
The idea is to give agribusinesses, policymakers, and researchers insight into where deforestation is occurring and how to address it.
"We're making Orbae open so companies can clearly see where land conversion is happening in their supply chains," said Xavier Bengoa, co-founder and CEO of AdAstra. "This allows them to focus their efforts on real solutions. Orbae gives all stakeholders a shared language to move the conversation from defining the problem to fixing it."
3Keel, the Oxford, England based sustainability consultancy is an early adopter of the tech. Founding director of 3Keel, Richard Sheane, explained why:
"We've been impressed by the team's approach to tackling this challenge. It's the first time that land conversion impacts have been quantified at such a global scale and such a granular resolution. We applaud the fact that they're making their data open source, as this will drive greater impact."
Six of the world's largest agrifood companies - including Louis Dreyfus Company and ofi (Olam Food Ingredients) - are already using Orbae's data. The growing network also includes the Global Feed LCA Institute, non-profit Proforest, transparency initiative Trase, and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).
AdAstra adds that it is also collaborating with major sustainability organizations to expand its reach.
Orbae is funded in part by Innosuisse, the Swiss innovation agency, which awarded AdAstra a grant of 1.3 million Swiss francs in 2023 to advance the development of its technology.
It accounts for an estimated 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, over 75% of which is driven by agriculture.
Science identifies stopping deforestation by 2030 as critical for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. However, agri-food companies have faced significant challenges in pinpointing where their interventions can be of greatest value.
Complex supply chains and a lack of reliable traceability data have hindered landscape-level interventions where diverse stakeholders can collaborate on coordinated action. Orbae aims to change that by providing free, publicly accessible data that allows companies to track the environmental footprint of their commodities, making it easier to take targeted action against deforestation.
"Carbon footprint assessments used to be solely focused on how crops were being produced and how animals were being reared, overlooking what had happened on that land and whether it had been converted from a natural eco-system in the first place. Now, the sector is recognizing the importance of land conversion in the overall environmental burden," Bengoa told FeedNavigator in 2023.
AdAstra says that unlike conventional carbon accounting models that rely on broad statistical estimates, Orbae leverages high-resolution earth observation technology to deliver granular, scalable insights that businesses and policymakers can act on.
Built on an algorithm from AdAstra that processes billions of satellite-based data points in 30-metre resolution or better, Orbae works field per field across an entire country to calculate the environmental costs of land conversion for each commodity. It considers where the crop is grown, land history over 20 years and carbon stocks, from peer-reviewed sources available in the public domain.
The method, called a jurisdictional direct land-use change approach, reflects the reality of agriculture on the ground and can be aggregated to any area of interest so that it matches the known level of traceability. It follows the accounting principles set out in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and SBTi FLAG Guidance.
Currently, the platform provides environmental impact data on 11 major agricultural commodities, including palm oil, soy, sugarcane, and corn, across more than 30 countries and their subnational jurisdictions. Additional commodities and regions will be added over time. The platform enables users to access land use change emission factors for each dataset and view heatmaps illustrating carbon intensity.
Orbae processes billions of satellite-based data points with an algorithm developed by AdAstra, offering a field-by-field analysis of land use changes across entire countries. It factors in 20 years of land history, carbon stock data, and the precise locations of crop production, using peer-reviewed sources available in the public domain.
For advanced analytics, Orbae Pro provides an expanded dataset, including total land use emissions, forest loss trends, and the percentage of deforestation-free commodities. AdAstra also offers consulting services to help businesses incorporate Orbae insights into their carbon accounting and climate strategies.