FABLE Calculator is online

The Scenathon’s main implementation tool, the FABLE Calculator, is now online and open-source*. Find the documentation here and Calculator here.

This tool uses data from public sources (e.g., FAO, ESA, WorldBank) and computes, from the ground up, land-use and land-use change by crop production type (e.g., cropland, pasture, forest), daily kilocalories produced (as well as minimum daily energy requirement) per person per day, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, and land-use (AFOLU), crop and livestock produced for trade, and land set aside for biodiversity preservation. There are also instructions to modify the Calculator with modules that some of our country team partners have tested, such as to compute water footprint, and GHG emissions from peatland burning and decay.

The Calculator is an accounting tool that is straightforward in design, and deterministic with very limited feedbacks, so will not exhibit complex behaviours; but it is large and complicated. We invite you to toy around with it, adapt it to your needs, modify it, and let us know how it goes.

We have released it with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This allows for nearly unrestricted usage as long as you say who you got it from — but use it for good, obviously.

*The structure and data of the Calculator are open, which is critical to the spirit of the FABLE Pathways Project. Since it’s implemented in Excel, truly open-source it is not.