A key element to our involvement in looking at blockchain technology is the related research component. We want to develop a shared common research protocol to be able to evaluate and analyze the pilots and proofs of concept.
The key to the knowledge base is to have rigorous research on the use cases on what works, what does not work, when, where and how. Related to business models, technology solutions, partnerships, regulations, governance structures, institutional arrangements and more.
Upcoming events of interest to the community can be found here, including but not limited to those organized by the blockchain coalition of the community of practice on socio-economic data, which is part of the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture. Upcoming training events are also listed here.
Building capacity in low and middle-income countries to develop and implement use cases for the transformation of complex dynamic agri-food systems is key part of AgriFoodTrust.
We accomplish this through the organization of events where information can be exchanged and through the organization of courses and masterclasses on topics related to digital trust and transparency technologies.
The fourth industrial revolution or data revolution that is fueling developments in digital trust and transparency technologies threatens to widen the digital divide. It is our mission to ensure that we do all the needful to prevent this. Inclusive development targets not just the resource poor but specifically women, youths and marginalized ethic groups.
Issues around ethics, privacy, data confidentiality and cyber-security are fast moving goal posts. Keeping abreast of these issues is critical to ensure we achieve our mission.
The key to the development of successful solutions related to the major challenges we face is through meaningful partnerships between food system stakeholders including civil society, private and public sector. The partnerships include research organizations, development practitioners local national, international, multilateral. In order to develop the minimum viable products, proofs-of-concept and pilots, and to do the research related to that funding is needed.
Our mission to provide a knowledge base on digital trust and transparency technologies, including blockchain hinges crucially on our ability to communicate our findings with key stakeholders.
The data base is under development. It will initially contain use cases from CTA and the Strike Two Summit tracks.
[ideally this becomes a multilevel accordion]
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DigitalIdentity
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Digital identity.
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| FoodSafety |
Food Safety in value chains addressed with digital trust and transparency technologies. |
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FinTech |
Financial technologies.
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Logistics |
Logistics made efficient with digital trust and transparency technologies. |
| InputPassport |
Blockchain enabled input passport.
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LandTenure |
Blockchain enabled land tenure and land transactions. |
| FarmIncome |
Novel farm income sources based on digital trust and transparency technologies. |
| NutritionHealth |
Nutrition and/or health enabled with digital trust and transparency technologies. |
| RuralOrganization |
Rural organization 4.0 where digital trust technologies are used for trustworthy governance. |
| Biofortification |
Using transparency technologies to track and trace biofortified foos through the food system. |
| Sustainability |
Using transparency technologies to make sustainability indicators visible in value chains. |
| TaaS |
Technology as a Service.
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Trade |
Blockchain enhanced trade.
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TrackTraceSolution |
Technical solutions to solve track and trace problems. |
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Sensors |
Sensors for anchoring virtual information. |
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RemoteSensing |
Remote sensing for anchoring virtual information. |
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BlockchainTest |
Testing novel blockchain development products (MvPs). |
| FoodQuality |
Food quality assurance through the use of digital trust and transparency technologies. |
| RiskResilience |
Reducing risk and enhancing resilience using digital trust technologies. |
| SupplyChainOptimization |
Application of digital trust and transparency technologies to ensure the optimal operation of a manufacturing and distribution supply chain. |
| Tokenization |
The process of substituting a sensitive data element with a non-sensitive equivalent, referred to as a token, that has no extrinsic or exploitable meaning or value. |
[ideally this will be a multilevel accordion]
Searching the knowledge base is possible by theme, and country.
Some potential approaches
In order to scale up and advance progress on the development of professional farmer organizations – i.e. that members are capacitated to manage their organizations as a business – the sector needs systemic change. This change starts by all stakeholders agreeing on and speaking a common language (see IWA 29). Then, based on the common language, capacity developers use assessment tools with the farmer organizations they work with to measure levels of professionalism and to identify gaps for improvement. Trainings and coaching sessions are then tailored to respond to the identified gaps and executed by highly qualified trainers and coaches, who are experienced in understanding the tools and curricula in the AMEA toolkit.
Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and lean startup template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm’s or product’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs.
With the advent of accessible digital technology more than a decade ago, international development organizations began seeking new ways of including digital tools in their programming for improved outcomes. These efforts were initially quite successful; significant advancements occurred in various sectors such as health and agriculture, more communities around the globe were connected, and underserved populations were reached in a way that had not been possible before. However, some digitally-enabled programs failed – and quite often that failure was for reasons that were both predictable and preventable.
The proliferation of digital technologies will play a major role in agriculture. Digital transformation can unlock the potential for smallholder farmers across South Asia and Africa to increase their incomes. It is an opportunity for farmers to be visible, to be empowered and to engage directly with their customers.
Many claim blockchain is more than just ICT innovation, but facilitates new types of economic organization and governance. Suggests two approaches to economics of blockchain: innovation-centred and governance-centred. Argues that the governance approach — based in new institutional economics and public choice economics — is very promising, because it models blockchain as a new technology for creating spontaneous organizations, i.e. new types of economies.
New Institutional Economics
Incorporates a theory of institutions into economics. It builds on, modifies, and extends neoclassical theory. It retains and builds on the fundamental assumption of scarcity and hence competition – the basis of the choice theoretic approach that underlies microeconomics.
Institution are defined as the rules of the game: the humanly devised constraints that structure human interaction. They are made up of formal constraints (such as rules, laws, constitutions), informal constraints (such as norms of behavior, conventions, self-imposed codes of conduct), and their enforcement characteristics.
New Institutional Economics has developed as a movement within the social sciences, especially economics and political science, that unites theoretical and empirical research examining the role of institutions in furthering or preventing economic growth. It includes work in transaction costs, political economy, property rights, hierarchy and organization, and public choice.
Many claim blockchain is more than just ICT innovation, but facilitates new types of economic organization and governance. Suggests two approaches to economics of blockchain: innovation-centred and governance-centred.
One of the approaches that addresses this is political economics
A key element to our involvement in looking at blockchain technology is the related research component. We want to develop a shared common research protocol to be able to evaluate and analyze the pilots and proofs of concept.
The key to the knowledge base is to have rigorous research on the use cases on what works, what does not work, when, where and how. Related to business models, technology solutions, partnerships, regulations, governance structures, institutional arrangements and more.
Technology is the easy part, so while research on the technology aspects is occasionally necessary, most research will concentrate on the business-management, socio-economic, institutional and socio-political aspects of the implementation of blockchain use cases in low and middle-income countries.
If you are an interested Scholar
The key to the knowledge base is to have rigorous research on the use cases on what works, what does not work, when, where and how. Related to business models, technology solutions, partnerships, regulations, governance structures, institutional arrangements and more.
Concept notes and proposals
Below are a number of exciting concept notes and awesome project proposals that are looking for interested funders.
We expect of all our use-cases that they contain an applied research component to determine what works, what doesn’t work and why.
. The use cases themselves can come from anywhere. The platform might be able to support some use cases, others are supported by for instance private sector partners or development NGOs. For many of those external use-cases there will not be funding available in the original project for rigorous scientific research, hence the platform will need to fund that component. The results of the PoCs and pilots and the scientific research related to them become part of the knowledge exchange of the platform. This is through open access publications, open data products and open access software code, models and tools.
The proofs-of-concept, pilots and use-cases are organized separately, but follow a similar pattern. The key element for setting up a successful use case in the initial stages is the organization of a relevant multi-stakeholder platform (MSP). Actually there are two levels of MSP involved. The first one is at a higher level of organization and includes the platform, funders, key stakeholders that own the problem and potential solution, the research community. At the implementation, level the MSP includes the key local stakeholders involved.
The pilots and proofs of concept that are linked to this work should adhere to the shared common research protocol to ensure learning is possible. Because many of these sub-projects will be proofs-of-concept or pilots, there should be a clear strategy for follow-up if successful. This means there also has to be an exit strategy for the pilot phase.
Initially there need to be proofs-of-concept related to technological solutions, business models, partnerships, stakeholder engagement to name a few examples. These proofs-of-concept take place in a protected environment with limited scale and scope. To address a specific issue more than one PoC may be needed. After the PoC phase we eneter a piloting phase where the solution, business model, stakeholder engagement models etcetera are tested in increasingly less controlled settings involving more and more stakeholders. At a certain point the use case should be able to continue on its own and key stakeholders or private equity should step in. If this is not the case, the solution is not (yet) viable.
Capacity development is a key aspect of creating the enabling environment for digital trust and transparency technologies for agri-food system transformation.
We’re seeking input on digital trust and transparency courses. What would you like to learn about blockchain capacity development? We have an online survey on this issue.
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Events
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Strike Two Event
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March 5, 2020: FairFood webinar
February 20, 2020: Launch of AgriFoodTrust at the Strike Two Summit
Governance structure is still under development.
Data, code and documents shared through the knowledge base of AgriFoodTrust should be made as publicly available as possible with appropriate licenses or user agreements attached.
The launch of the portal was funded through a seed grant provided by CTA [CTA/ 2019-408 Project N°: 1-1-02-307-9] and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture community of practice on Socio-Economic Data.
The development of AgriFoodTrust has been supported by CGIAR Research Program on Maize and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.
All research conducted on use cases that are submitted to the testing and learning platform that involve stakeholders should ideally have been cleared by an IRB or other Research Ethics Committee.
All research undertaken as part of projects directly linked to AgriFoodTrust that involve human subjects are required to obtain research ethics review and clearance prior to implementation.
Projects funded through AgriFoodTrust can request review though CIMMYT’s IREC please contact: CIMMYT-IREC@cgiar.org
AgriFoodTrust is hosted at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). It is linked to the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture. The testing and learning platform is coordinated by Gideon Kruseman (CIMMYT) and Marieke de Ruyter de Wildt (The New Fork).
Gideon focuses primarily on the knowledge base and the rigorous science involved in building that knowledge base. His primary interest is in closing the digital divide.
Marieke, through the New Fork works with corporate organizations in high income countries where the vast majority of scaled use cases exist. These use cases can provide valuable insights for the nascent applications in low and middle-income countries.
Chris brings the review and project work of the Technical Centre for Agriculture in the application of blockchain and data driven technologies in agriculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. His primary interest is in data driven solutions for the smallholder farmer.
Communication is handled by Matthew O’Leary
Co-founders of AgriFoodTrust
Founding organizations
