The agriculture product market is global and involves dozens of middlemen. The effectiveness of interaction is not always efficient enough, and faults and inaccuracies are unavoidable. According to World Economic Forum research, blockchain is the only technology capable of removing restrictions in logistics and supply chains. 

The blockchain is already transforming business activities in the agriculture industry by lowering the risk of fraudulent activities, increasing transaction speeds, assisting farmers in crop control and analysis, and much more.

The agricultural blockchain market is predicted to increase from $47.2 million in 2017 to almost $430 million by 2023, reflecting an astounding 47.8% compound annual growth rate.

Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, fostering transparency, trust, and efficiency across the entire value chain. 

It empowers farmers, reduces intermediaries, and enhances food security, creating a future where every seed planted, every crop harvested, and every transaction made can be traced with immutable integrity.    

                                                                          Founder - KOUé SOLUTIONS

Let us have a look at specific use cases of  blockchain technology in agriculture: 

1. Product Quality Control

Problem: According to studies, 34% of fruits and vegetables are thrown away in industrialized countries due to inappropriate storage and transportation conditions. 

Solution: Blockchain-based solutions use sensors to collect information on agricultural products in real-time, which is recorded in a blockchain-based decentralized distribution book. As a result, stakeholders (farmers, distributors, and consumers) will be able to determine when the product rotted and prevent it from happening again in the future.

2. Enhancing Supply Networks

Problem: The agriculture product market is global, and a complicated logistic mechanism that routes items through dozens of middlemen in charge of delivery and the interaction between them is not always efficient. As a result, it creates faults and inaccuracies are unavoidable in such a complicated framework. 

Solution: Improving supply chains using blockchain technology means reduced logistics costs and shipping damage, the prospect of entering new markets where they are willing to pay more, reduced fraud and counterfeiting, and greater consumer confidence because they can now trace the items to the producer.

3. Farm Management Software (FMS) Upgrade

According to Grand View Research, the global market for farm management software (FMS) reached $ 7.5 billion in 2077 and  is expected to grow to$  4.2 billion by 2025. This expansion will be driven by a combination of three reasons: perpetual water scarcity in Africa, Asia, and Australia, significant population expansion in Africa, which will boost demand for food goods and their production methods, and the development of new technology.

Farmers need an operational environment that will efficiently manage Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, drones, and artificial intelligence while ensuring the security of the system and the data acquired. The blockchain is the sole competitor for such an operating environment.

4. AgTech  Internet of Things (loT) Optimization

Problem: According to studies, the average efficiency of small farms in industrialized countries is 85%, whereas large farms have a 97% efficiency. 

Solution: The Internet of Things (loT) is a cloud network that employs sensors and specific software to read data from digital objects and manage them remotely. Using the possibilities of IoT technology is the most effective technique to boost efficiency. The issue is that implementing loT necessitates a secure connection with all devices, secure data transfer and storage, a database protected from DDoS attacks and unauthorized access, and  tools for secure (and anonymous) identification of each user and device.

In this case, blockchain can provide the following solution - blockchain is a decentralized information storage system that can consistently and securely retain loT data, and the technology's scalability, safety, and dependability have been confirmed. It has performed well in other industries.

5. Reasonable Pricing

Problem: The majority of earnings from agricultural product sales end up in the pockets of intermediaries and merchants, while farmers' and raw material producers' salaries remain exceedingly low. All this can be because of weather conditions, inelastic demand, and supply, as well as global market conditions that are not always fair and sustainable. 

Solution: New technologies can help with more honest pricing in numerous ways. Blockchain minimizes the number of intermediaries, and farmers can engage in contracts with merchants directly and on more favorable terms. Blockchain increases market transparency, which can be used to put social pressure on parties that generate excessive  gains. 

This method  has been  proven beneficial  in  the  practice  of eco-organizations. Farmers can use blockchain-based platforms to build worldwide trade unions to preserve their rights.

All of this will enhance farmers' income. This will be a great benefit for developing countries, where agriculture employs a large portion of the population, and will save many people from starvation. For example, in Uganda nine out of ten people lived in the countryside in the 1990s, is an example. 

According to studies, a 70% increase in the price of coffee beans resulted in a 6% decrease in the number of households living in poverty (2 million people).

6. Agricultural Subsidies

Problem: Agriculture tends to be one of the largest beneficiaries of subsidies in most countries.  However, farmers are not always the beneficiaries of subsidies, as 90% of the subsidies may be distributed to one or three enterprises owned by family or associates of officials. 

Solution: A possible solution, in this case, would come from the public that may necessitate the development of a blockchain network to automatically allocate subsidies to the farmers who truly need them, and transparency and open source software will give taxpayers influence over the process. Furthermore, by minimizing document flow, the number of intermediaries, and needless activities, blockchain and smart contracts can help simplify these payments in terms of cost. 

7. Agriculture Production Crowdfunding

Problem: Agriculture is an industry with high transaction costs, the majority of which occur quickly. Farmers in affluent countries borrow money from banks on more or less advantageous terms. In the rest of the globe, a bank loan can be arranged under such terms that a single payment delay can bankrupt farmers. 

Solution: The new technology will globalize the lending sector, allowing African farmers, for example, to obtain loans in European structures on acceptable conditions. Small farmers who supply 80% of the food consumed in developing nations will have access to finance and investment money. 

Furthermore, the blockchain will enable to build crowdfunding models in which regular people can support firms in foreign nations It is now tough, risky, and fraught with unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. Tokenization will alleviate these issues for crowdfunding.

8. Small Farm Insurance

Problem: Agriculture insurance is adversely affected by the unpredictability of weather and pest infestations, significant volatility in food prices, a long production cycle, and other factors, especially in countries where access to low-cost lending funding is restricted. As a result, farm insurance is expensive and frequently impossible to get. 

Solution: As with loans, blockchain has the potential to localize the insurance business, allowing farmers from emerging market economies to secure insurance with European companies on more advantageous terms. Farmers can be a part of a centralized insurance market for crowdfunding, including agricultural initiatives, and they can access peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance services via mobile application.

9. Encourage  Sustainable  Methods

Problem: There are over 500 million small farmers worldwide. Various studies reveal that all of these persons are twice as likely as the average person to commit suicide: 20 suicides per 700,000 farmers compared to 70 per 700,000 for the rest of the population. 

These shocking figures are a result of a high number of farmer bankruptcies, which is detrimental for both those who have fallen bankrupt and those who are merely terrified of being bankrupt (almost all farmers).

Solution: The use of blockchain technology in many parts of farmers’ activities has the potential to create a synergistic impact that will considerably simplify, ease, and enrich their lives. Farmers will be less stressed and happier as a result of this.

10. Corporate Accountability

Problem: When you buy a vegetable or fruit, you have no idea how much and what chemicals were used in its development, how it was stored, whether there is any weirdness in its DNA, and where it grew: on the field, in the greenhouse, or the basement. Furthermore, you have no idea who grew this vegetable of fruit: an American farmer or a nearly enslaved worker in an emerging market economy.

Solution:  Blockchain technology allows you to trace the history of vegetables from the store shelf to the seeds from which they originated, or history of the fish from the freezer to the farm where it was farmed. With blockchain tehnology, you may track everything - manufacturing procedures, equipment, fertilizers, and even the makeup of DNA products. 

TO SUM UP:

The agriculture product market is global and involves dozens of middlemen. Blockchain technology is already transforming business activities in the agriculture industry by lowering the risk of fraudulent activities, increasing transaction speeds, assisting farmers in crop control and analysis, and much more.

Blockchain technology can be used to improve supply chains in the agriculture product market, which will lead to reduced logistics costs and shipping damage, increased consumer confidence, and reduced fraud and counterfeiting.

According to Grand View Research, the global market for farm management software reached $ 7.5 billion in 2077 and is expected to grow to $ 4.2 billion by 2025. The blockchain is the sole competitor for such an operating environment.

AgTech Internet of Things (loT) optimization can be achieved using blockchain, which is a decentralized information storage system that can consistently and securely retain loT data.

New technologies can help with more honest pricing in numerous ways, including decreasing the number of intermediaries, increasing market transparency, and allowing farmers to build worldwide trade unions to preserve their rights. This will enhance farmers' income and save many people from starvation.

Agricultural subsidies are one of the largest beneficiaries of subsidies in most countries, but 90% of the subsidies are distributed to one or three enterprises owned by family or associates of officials. Blockchain can help simplify the process.

The new technology will globalize the lending sector, allowing farmers in emerging market economies to obtain loans in European structures on acceptable conditions, and will enable to build crowdfunding models in which regular people can support firms in foreign nations.

Small farm insurance is expensive and frequently impossible to get. Blockchain has the potential to localize the insurance business and allow farmers from emerging market economies to secure insurance with European companies on more advantageous terms.

Over 500 million small farmers worldwide are twice as likely as the average person to commit suicide. The use of blockchain technology in many parts of farmers' activities will considerably simplify, ease, and enrich their lives.

When you buy a vegetable or fruit, you have no idea how it was grown, how it was stored, or whether it has any weirdness in its DNA. Blockchain technology allows you to trace the history of food products, including seeds, equipment, fertilizers, and even the makeup of DNA products.