The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union, has awarded four grants to support the use of blockchain in agriculture across several ACP nations.
With CTA’s support Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Erba 96 and Nitidae will implement blockchain projects in Côte d’Ivoire, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda.
With blockchain, every transaction within a supply chain can be traced from the moment produce leaves a farm to the point of purchase.
The technology can be applied to entire value chains, reducing reliance on intermediaries, improving efficiency, reducing waste and improving food traceability and safety.
“At CTA we are focused on the innovative use of technology for the digitalisation of key value chains,' said senior programme coordinator ICT4Ag at CTA, Ken Lohento.'In supporting new use cases we seek to accelerate the transformation of agriculture and believe the use of blockchain may play a valuable role in accomplishing this.'
Of the projects announced, one in particular is of interest to the fresh produce industry, with Ebra 96 focusing on vegetable traceability.
The grants were awarded following a call for proposals in September 2018, and the implementation of the four projects kicked off following a workshop held at CTA’s headquarters in Wageningen, Netherlands, from 28 to 29 May 2019, which helped CTA and project implementers to finalise plans that will ensure effective results.
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