Blockchain For Food: Making Sense of Technology and the Impact on Biofortified Seeds

The global food system is under pressure and is in the early stages of a major transition towards more transparency, circularity, and personalisation. In the coming decades, there is an increasing need for more food production with fewer resources. Thus, increasing crop yields and nutritional value per crop is arguably an important factor in this global food transition. Biofortification can play an important role in feeding the world. Biofortified seeds create produce with increased nutritional values, mainly minerals and vitamins, while using the same or less resources as non-biofortified variants. However, a farmer cannot distinguish a biofortified seed from a regular seed. Due to the invisible nature of the enhanced seeds, counterfeit products are common, limiting wide-scale adoption of biofortified crops. Fraudulent seeds pose a major obstacle in the adoption of biofortified crops. A system that could guarantee the origin of the biofortified seeds is therefore required to ensure widespread adoption. This trust-ensuring immutable proof for the biofortified seeds, can be provided via blockchain technology

Blockchain for agriculture and food : Findings from the pilot study

This report documents experiences and findings from the public private partnership (PPP) project ‘Blockchain for Agrifood’ that was started in March 2017. The project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the blockchain technology (BCT) and its implications for agrifood, especially how it can impact specific aspects of supply chains and what is needed to apply BCT in agrifood chains. A second aim of this project is to conceptualise and develop a proof of concept in an application based on a use case concerning table grapes from South Africa where BCT could be applied. This has been done by building a demonstrator that keeps track of different certificates involved in the table grapes supply chain. The code of this demonstrator is published at Github. Furthermore, the project explored issues regarding the relevance, applicability and implications of BCT for the agrifood sector through literature study and stakeholder consultation

Blockchain for food: Making sense of technology and the impact on biofortified seeds

The global food system is under pressure and is in the early stages of a major transition towards more transparency, circularity, and personalisation. In the coming decades, there is an increasing need for more food production with fewer resources. Thus, increasing crop yields and nutritional value per crop is arguably an important factor in this global food transition. Biofortification can play an important role in feeding the world. Biofortified seeds create produce with increased nutritional values, mainly minerals and vitamins, while using the same or less resources as non-biofortified variants. However, a farmer cannot distinguish a biofortified seed from a regular seed. Due to the invisible nature of the enhanced seeds, counterfeit products are common, limiting wide-scale adoption of biofortified crops. Fraudulent seeds pose a major obstacle in the adoption of biofortified crops. A system that could guarantee the origin of the biofortified seeds is therefore required to ensure widespread adoption. This trust-ensuring immutable proof for the biofortified seeds, can be provided via blockchain technology.Non-PRIFPRI5; HarvestPlus; CRP4; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; UNFSSHarvestPlus; A4NHCGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture (Big Data); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH