Explore how blockchain in agriculture enhances food safety through transparency, traceability, and improved supply chain management.
In the past couple of years, agriculture has come under tremendous pressure to keep up with the demands of a constantly growing world population. With each increase in population comes the need for efficiency, sustainable output, and improved safety standards. Out of all those new technologies that hold the promise to transform the agriculture industry, blockchain technology stands out as the most glaring. Blockchain technology, the distributed ledger that initially got associated with cryptocurrency, is currently being applied across various sectors, and agriculture is one of them. With the ability to provide transparency, traceability, and security, blockchain will emerge as a dominant force in food safety regulation. In this article, the intersection of blockchain technology and agriculture and its application to increase food safety and supply chain management is discussed.
What is Blockchain in Agriculture?
Blockchain technology is a computer book of accounts that documents transactions between computers on a network in a form that is hard to hack or alter. Each entry or “block” of information in the book is chained to the previous one, creating a chain of data that can’t be deleted or altered and is open to everyone. The technology is decentralized, i.e., there is no single command center in charge of the records. This makes it very attractive to industries such as agriculture, where traceability, security, and transparency are a top priority.
In agriculture, blockchain technology can be utilized to follow the production of foodstuffs from farm to plate in such a manner that every phase of the value chain is traced. Following all the transactions on an immutable ledger, the stakeholders can monitor where a product comes from, authenticate it, and determine whether or not it is safe.
Providing Transparency and Traceability throughout the Food Value Chain
One of the most incredible aspects of blockchain in agriculture that makes it more efficient at maintaining food safety levels is how it enhances transparency and traceability in the food supply chain. It has been difficult to trace back the origin of food products. When there is a food safety problem, i.e., contamination, weeks or even months might be wasted tracing back where the problem is and how to prevent it from continuing to spread. Such uncertainty might cause immense threats for consumers and businesses.
Blockchain technology provides every transaction on the supply chain an irreversible record which cannot be edited, from when the product was harvested all the way through to the consumer. Consumers, retailers, and regulators can view history of a product on where it was produced, how it was handled, and whether it met safety tests through scanning a product’s QR code or entering its batch number. Real-time visibility gives early notice of possible risk and speeds up response to food safety issues.
Improving Anti-Fraud and Food Authenticity
Food misbranding/adulteration or food fraud is a concern both for the consumer and the farming sector. Food fraud has the potential to have serious health impacts as well as ruin consumer trust. Blockchain for food safety also has a significant role to play in food fraud prevention by proper labeling of food items and traceability of origin.
Consider, for instance, organic food. Though there is tight regulation on the activity of organic farming, the sector has been plagued by non-organic products purporting to be organic for a long time. Blockchain is used on farms to trace every step of the path of the organic product. The farmers, the processors, and the retailers can all add respective certificates and inspection reports to the blockchain, creating an open and incorruptible record of product purity. This not only avoids fraud but also builds the consumer confidence in the items being bought.
Strengthening Food Safety Regulations
Food safety laws are set in place to ensure consumers’ protection against risky products, yet their compliance is generally a protracted and multifaceted exercise for agricultural firms. Since multiple players are engaged in food manufacturing, processing, and distribution, attainment of safety levels can prove arduous. Blockchain technology streamlines the procedure by presenting an efficient and safe method of storing and sending compliance information.
Furthermore, blockchain can facilitate the proof of conformity that fruits and vegetables are up-to-standard according to international standards of food safety and thereby allow for agribusiness access to global markets. Blockchain agriculture guarantees products to be in line with required certifications and regulations and therefore facilitates easy cross-border trade and lowers entry points for farmers and small farmers.
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