Ranchers who provide information about their livestock could receive financial support from the state.
Brazil is developing a blockchain platform that would help local livestock providers to track livestock across the state. This is the result of an alliance between the city council of Pará, Brazil, and the British Partnerships for Forests (P4F).
This project proposes that blockchain technology stores the information and data of each link in the production chain. This is something that would help those involved in meat production in that country.
The initiative seeks to collect vital information among the sectors involved in the livestock industry. One of the main objectives is to compare the records of the ranchers with those of the Animal Transit Guide (Legal document for animal trafficking in Brazil) and the Rural Environmental Registry. This would help ranchers get some benefits from the state.
According to what platform developers estimate, the registry could cover more than 300 rural properties, averaging around 1,400 livestock producers across the state of Pará. This would help organize and involve more than 1 million head of cattle per year. The initiative hopes to finalize the complete registration by May of this year.
Government Investment for Livestock
The government of Pará approved the investment of more than 92 million Brazilian reals (equivalent to 18 million US dollars), to begin with, inspection and regularization processes to boost the sector. This is part of the so-called Operation Lava-jato and is a government action to counteract some registration problems with indirect suppliers.
Luiz de Almeida, representative of P4F, explained that the developers of the project will prepare the previous conditions to begin the tests. He added that the places where the pilot test will work are Sân Félix do Xingu and a town southwest of Pará. They also expect the test has a broader scope or be “statewide”.
When the preparations are made, the tests will begin, explained Luiz de Almeida, representative of P4F. He added that the places where the pilot will work are Sân Félix do Xingu and a town southwest of Pará. The test is also expected to have a broader scope or be “statewide”.
In another sense, Francisco Fonseca, Coordinator of Sustainable Livestock of TNC, recognized that carrying out this type of project can be a great challenge. This is because most of these producers are in places far from any contact with technology. However, they hope to coordinate efforts to improve channels and production.
Fonseca also referred to the mechanism that they would use to track livestock since it can be something very difficult. “We even managed to track animals using earrings or boluses (technological equipment placed in the ox rumen), but without success due to the cost-benefit and the vast areas of the Amazon”, Fonseca commented.
To conclude, Fonseca emphasized the need to create an ideal regulatory system for small producers dedicated to this sector, which helps to avoid discrimination or exclusion of their work from the economy.
“Having a database and setting up a dirty list without producer adherence was never the solution. It is necessary to fight for the reintegration of the producer in the chain”, he said.
By María Rodríguez
