Figure 5: A Smart Contract Mediated Supply Chain41
Smart contract technology was first developed on the Ethereum blockchain14.
Owing to their ability to eliminate third-party roles, Ethereum based
smart contracts are increasingly being deployed for agricultural
insurance in many parts of the Global South28,42,43.
In addition to peerless insurance and payment settlements, smart
contracts also allow for establishing agricultural commodity origins and
ensuring expected standards (for instance, such as those needed for
organic certification are being met). Smart contracts can help monitor
and manage all communications and transactions within the supply chain
network among all stakeholders. They verify every transaction, which is
recorded and stored in a centralized interplanetary file system database
ensuring transparency and security14.
An Ethereum blockchain-based solution has been suggested as a way of
establishing that organic vegetables are meeting the requisite standards
in terms of cultivation conditions and allowing them to sell their
produce directly to consumers44.
Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts were used to trace, track, and
perform transactions in soybean supply chains with the view of improving
transparency and visibility. Participants in the supply chain all have
Ethereum accounts with unique Ethereum Addresses (EAs) that identify
them uniquely. Basically, Ethereum accounts consist of an EA and public
and private keys which are used for cryptographically and digitally
signing and validating data within each transaction, as well as
associating each transaction with a specific account11.
The entire soybean farm-to-fork blockchain framework has been
demonstrated in figure 6: