Articles
Blog articles
Blockchain for agriculture: making it happen
The increasing buzz on blockchain technology has, in recent times, drawn attention to its application within the agriculture sector. The technology can be leveraged upon to improve agriculture efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, including intra-ACP business transactions and transactions between ACP and international business stakeholders.
Read MoreOpportunities for blockchain in agriculture
by Chris Addison , Isolina Boto , Thomas Heinen and Ken Lohento
To discuss the opportunities and challenges for blockchain in agriculture in the agri-food sector, over 160 participants gathered in Brussels on 15 May, 2019 at the 55th Brussels Development Briefing organised by CTA, the European Commission (DEVCO), the ACP Secretariat, Concord and BMZ.
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Tracking Fiji’s tuna with blockchain technology
by Osseni Senou
The Pacific region is facing a huge decrease in fisheries revenue – its principal source of income and employment over the last decade. Reported by Stop Illegal Fishing, the Fijian government states that, “About 306,440 t of fish were harvested illegally in the Pacific region with an estimated cost of $616.11 million from 2010 to 2015”.
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Digital networking boosts financial prospects for women agripreneurs
by Busani Bafana and Nawsheen Hosenally
It might keep the world fed, but there is little appetite for financing farming and farmers. Women in farming count access to finance as top of their challenges. Many run informal businesses. Expanding them into large operations comes with a long list of demands, including access to funding, collateral, business skills and a record of farming accomplishment. Digital technologies can help to boost prospects for women agripreneurs.
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How blockchain technology helps young Caribbean farmers access finance
by Varun Baker
It is widely recognised that access to finance is one of the biggest barriers to more young people becoming engaged in agriculture. Here, Varun Baker, a young Jamaican entrepreneur and winner of the CTA Pitch AgriHack 2018 contest, explains why he is convinced that blockchain technology can help to change this – and how his own start-up Farm Credibly is using the technology to improve access to finance for unbanked farmers.
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Background articles
Can blockchain plug Africa’s agri-finance gap?
A group of partners are developing a blockchain-powered ecosystem across Africa that they say will boost investment into agricultural infrastructure, allow smallholder farmers to borrow more cheaply and stimulate consumer activity in rural economies.
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News articles
Blockchain, a technology with big potential for farmers and value chains actors
During a recent CTA ICT4Ag Outlook workshop, three topics were discussed: start-up financing, 3D printing and blockchain. Blockchain has emerged in recent years with the exciting potential for ACP countries. The exchanges focused on this new technology in order to help develop a better understanding and to discuss its benefits and actual limitations.
Read MoreScientific Articles
Blockchain builds trust in agricultural commodity trade
Distributed ledger technology promises to help plug a trust gap in agricultural commodities trade and finance, with new platforms offering farmers a bigger pool of buyers for their harvests.
Read MoreEliminating the trust factor
by Henk van Cann
Henk van Cann is co-founder of Blockchain Workspace, an organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands that provides training on the blockchain to make the technology understandable to a broad audience. Henk spoke to ICT Update about the need to educate people in the use of the blockchain before they start using it and judging it, and why trust is one of the key drivers for moving away from centralised systems and towards blockchain technology.
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Assessing the need for blockchain applications
by Nikolet Zwart
Using the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Framework, Nikolet Zwart has analysed a use case of adding value through the local processing of food by multinational agribusinesses to illustrate the usefulness of any kind of blockchain analysis.
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The blockchain: opportunities and challenges for agriculture
by Nathalie Toulon
Nathalie Toulon from the AgroTIC Digital Agriculture Chair in France discusses the many ways in which the blockchain can potentially change agriculture, for example by enhancing trust, transparency and efficiency, and several pitfalls to take into account. Like any new technology, blockchain should not be viewed as a panacea. For it to serve development, it will need to mature.
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Cryptocurrency: more education, less hype
by John Weru
John Weru is a Kenya-born writer, blogger and co-founder of PayHub East Africa. In a conversation with ICT Update, John talked about the rise of cryptocurrency, the potential of the blockchain to improve efficiency in the agricultural value chain in Africa, and the urgent need to educate people about the technology itself and the economy that it is creating.
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