Abstract
Blockchain technology is increasingly being supported for different agricultural commodity applications, including agricultural commodity tracing and provenance establishment. But many critical issues need to be addressed before the use of blockchain technology for this purpose becomes widespread both technologically and ethically. For that, I carried out a comparison of the different blockchain frameworks - mainly permissioned Hyperledger blockchain technology and Ethereum smart in terms of their agricultural sustainability applications. I also examined the role of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in supporting blockchain-driven sustainability. I identified how a lack of earth observation (EO) data undermines commodity provenance (and related ecological sustainability) establishment. However, the biggest threats to widespread blockchain technology adoption, especially for meeting sustainability standards include scalability issues and the lack of standard data protocols and governance measures.
Introduction
About three-quarters of the Earth’s land surface has been altered by humans within the last millennium1. In addition to the growing demand for agricultural commodities in the Global South, the import of common agricultural commodities such as soybean, oil palm to developed countries has resulted in deforestation being displaced to the tropical forest-rich countries in the Global South2. Agricultural intensification in the Global South also has ecological consequences in terms of increased soil degradation3, damage to biodiversity4, fertiliser use5among others. Agricultural intensification, owing to ecological degradation and biodiversity impacts may have adverse effects on human health6. However, at the present time, there is limited traceability of many common agricultural commodities (and no standardised protocols to establish commodity origins) which has both ecological, human health and socio-economic concerns, including an increased risk of deforestation as a result of their sourcing7–9. Therefore being able to verify the origin of raw materials as well as learn more about the production process10is vital to both promoting sustainable agriculture by minimizing its ecological and food safety-related concerns.
Blockchain is a disruptive technology that can facilitate traceability in agriculture supply chains through decentralised immutable public records11. Blockchain technology can act as a reliable source of truth about the state of farms, inventories and contracts in agriculture. Additionally, it can track the origins of agricultural commodities and thus help create trustworthy commodity supply chains12. For instance, the Brazilian meat producer JBS is deploying blockchain solutions to eradicate deforestation and farm-level malpractice by incorporating geospatial data (in the form of earth observation data and farm records) to monitor farms across the Amazon, Cerrado, Pantanal, Mata Atlântica and Caatinga biomes to identify cattle coming from farms created on recently deforested areas13. Blockchain technology holds the potential of improving transparency around farm-to-fork food safety and quality certification14. In addition to helping track the ecological footprint of the different agricultural commodities, blockchain technology can help establish the provenance of protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) agricultural commodities and ensure these can help support sustainability goals10,15. While earth observation (EO) data are increasingly being used in the context of ensuring agricultural production fulfils Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)16, they are yet to find widespread adoption within blockchain solutions. Additionally, blockchain frameworks have also been deployed for other agriculture-related activities, including payments without the need for third-party intervention. An agritech startup, AgriDigital, executed the world’s first blockchain-based grain settlement. Since then, more than 1.6 million tons of grain have been transacted over the cloud, resulting in grower payments of $360 million17. Blockchain technology has been deployed for ensuring food sourcing transparency, adherence to safety standards and establishment of organic produce or geographic origins for a variety of products including wine, pork and fruits18. A comprehensive list of blockchain projects (and target food products) focused on the different aspects of agricultural commodity sourcing and supply has been provided in table 1: