The system will allow farmers to have a history of transactions that will help them access loans and financial benefits.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is mainly derived from crop products such as cocoa and coffee. These are almost entirely what they offer to international markets. This is the reason why, to improve its sales and export processes, the country could be looking for technological solutions such as blockchain technology to manage and improve performance in cultivation and marketing matters.
According to information reviewed by sources linked to the agricultural sector in Haiti, the British startup company, Agriledger, which specializes in creating blockchain tools for agriculture-oriented economies, would be using its technology to develop a solution aimed at improving the supply chain in agricultural products for the Caribbean country.
The project would be focused on allowing these products to be commercialized in the international sector, opening a digital channel for the use of retailers and suppliers.
Besides, it is expected that the system also allows collecting vital information about the crop, for example, its germination time, its plow and its origin mainly. It will also add data that will be incorruptible during all the process of selling the product with the buyer. All this will be stored on the platform that will be after help to monitor all commercial channels.
The initiative has already been tested and even some producers have implemented the system to improve the way of marketing their products. Farmers can agree directly with the buyer the price and quantity per sale without the need for commercial intermediaries.
According to data about the platform, each farmer will have an identification number that will help them form a name within the market, according to Agriledger. This will allow them to have a direct window with international markets, as well as raising the prices of agricultural products and get better profits for the peasants.
The project also covers a whole chain of benefits that seeks to boost the sector and facilitate the commercial flow for the farmer. Among its main features is assigning a digital wallet, which can receive payments almost immediately. This will help the farmer to skip financial channels for sales in global markets.
The system will also allow them to tokenize the money obtained. Hence, they can have several options when purchasing raw materials, such as seeds or fertilizers.
One of the great benefits that the solution will offer is to register any transaction and commercialization made in a history that will allow the farmer to have a good reputation when applying for a monetary loan with the country’s financial institutions.
Besides, Agriledger is developing an improvement for the blockchain system, which will seek to offer a direct channel to request orders regardless of the country. This will support the commercial operations that are conducted between the buyer and the farmer.
Blockchain to Promote the Economy
Currently, Haiti still depends on humanitarian aid to support a large part of the basic needs of its citizens. Since the unfortunate earthquake that hit the island in 2010, the Caribbean country has been forced to promote all kinds of technological assistance to boost its economy.
The main promoter of these initiatives is the Central Bank of Haiti, which provides support so that these projects can be sustained and developed. Another promoter is Agriledger, which voluntarily seeks to be part of the economic uprising of the island.
Although several countries have incorporated similar solutions to improve processes in agriculture, researches related to this sector, such as the one of Gartner, indicate that concrete results are not yet obtained. However, other companies are working to improve this type of technological support around the world.
By María Rodríguez
