Oxfam International announced the official launch of its blockchain-based project to empower farmers. The information was provided by the news site Khmer Times a few days ago. Oxfam’s project is known as BlocRice and aims to increase farmers bargaining power in negotiations with buyers.
Oxfam Launches New Blockchain Project for Farmers
Oxfam’s pilot programme was launched earlier this year in April with the intention to test the solution. The pilot programme will last until the end of March 2019. With this blockchain solution, farmers would be able to sell their products at a higher price, allowing them to have a better socioeconomic position.
The service will exactly give the farmers bargaining power. According to Solinn Lim, country director of Oxfam in Cambodia, said that BlocRice wants to gain acknowledgment from all relevant actors in the supply chain. The agreements powered by smart contracts will be between organic farmers and rice exporters in Cambodia. Interested parties in the Netherlands will be making the purchases of these products.
About it, she commented:
“BlocRice promotes the use of such digital contracts as tools for social and economic empowerment. The application of blockchain technology is expected to enhance the negotiation power of small-scale farmers in their rice value chains, who are usually poor primary producers.”
At the moment, this pilot project is being tested in the Preah Vihear province. A cooperative of organic rice farmers is helping with the project. This cooperative will be connected using blockchain and smart contracts with the agents involved in the supply chain. SanoRice, a Dutch rice cracker manufacturer will be using this rice to produce the food they sell in the market.
With this project, all the parties in the supply chain will be connected through a digital contract. This will take place from the very beginning (planting the rice) to the manufacturing of the rice crackers. All the information required will be shared through a database powered by blockchain technology.
With the intention to financially include these farmers, the payments will be made using personal bank accounts. The financial institution providing the accounts is Acleda bank.
Song Saran, the CEO of Amru rice, a company involved in the pilot as an exporter, explained that this project will be increasing transparency in the market. Moreover, blockchain technology would allow the farmers to improve their living standard.
The pilot includes just a few farmers and only one agricultural community. If the project ends up being successful, it could expand to other communities that are working with Amru Rice. Other products such as organic cassava or pepper might be included in future projects.
Carlos is an international relations’ analyst specializing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Since 2017, Carlos has written extensively for UseTheBitcoin and other leading cryptocurrency sites; with over 2,000 articles published.
