Oxfam launches project to connect rice supply chain
OXFAM in Cambodia launched the BlocR ice project on Thursday – a platform using blockchain technolog y to connect a net work of people in the rice supply chain that aims to ensure fa rmers get a fa ir price for t heir produce.
Working as t he pilot test project since April t his year, t he BlocRice app focuses on t ra nspa rency a nd traceabilit y using blockchain technolog y by implementing smart contracts as a tool and interactive consumer communication apps for a better user interface.
‘Party to the contracts’
“Farmers thus gain collective bar- ga i ni ng power si nce ag r icu lt ura l cooperat ives wi l l be pa r t y to t he contracts,” said Oxfam in Cambodia countr y director Solinn Lim.
In its f irst year, Oxfam’s BlocRice project will work with 50 small-scale organic-rice farmers in Preah Vihear prov ince.
The project is taking place through the rainy season in March, the count r y’s prime season to har vest a nd sel l r ice.
Smart contract
Oxfam says after the first BlocRice project completes nex t yea r, t he platform will be expanded to 1,000 farmers in 2020 and 5,000 in 2022.
The goa l is to promote a “smart contract”, a t hree-way digita l con- tract fa rming agreement bet ween farmers, exporters and buyers in the Netherlands.
The project digitises and registers t hese contracts on t he blockchain platform. Details such as primar y purchase price, trade volume a nd transportation method are recorded, with cashless payments made to the farmers through bank accounts for t raceabilit y.
Oxfam estimates that 60 per cent o f C a mb o d i a’s w o r k f o r c e i s employed in t he agriculture sector, and many of them do not have cont racts wit h t heir clients.
Lack of market price k nowledge and high-interest loans put pressure on farmers to sell produce and clear t heir debts, it said.