Global trade in the food and agriculture industry is vulnerable to a host of inefficiencies caused by the human and natural limits within any system. If you want to start bitcoin trading in only three steps, you will get the best liquidity, and the platform is immune to volatility risk. For example, an issue like a lack of trust between parties due to unexpected shipping delays can result in unnecessary food spoilage. Blockchain offers the potential for timely, transparent, and secure record-keeping that avoids these inefficiencies by enabling all parties to complete visibility into their transactions. In this way, it is hoped that blockchain can provide marginal farmers with greater transparency into their products’ trade and market value. The potential benefits of blockchain technology for the food and agriculture sector include the following:
Incremental Value Flow
Blockchain technology can improve the flow of incremental value through supply chains beyond the primary products. By tracking incremental value added to a food or agricultural product via post-harvest processing (e.g., packaging, shipping, branding, etc.), blockchain technology allows that incremental value to be captured as it moves along the supply chain and enables its redistribution to all parties involved. As a result, it can create a more dynamic economic relationship throughout the supply chain ecosystem and incentivize stakeholder alignment across any number of organizations in each transaction. If you are thinking of Trading with Ethereum, you might consider seeking advice from professionals.
Improving Global Food Security
Blockchain-based distributed ledgers have the potential to assist in improving global food security by increasing both the efficiency and transparency of the global food supply chain. By enabling participants to track the origins of a particular product quickly and accurately, blockchain technology can assure consumers that their food is fresh, healthy, and sustainably produced.
Reducing Costs
Blockchain technology can reduce costs across the entire supply chain ecosystem by streamlining information management systems and facilitating new business opportunities through increased interoperability among different organizations involved in a single transaction. In more efficient supply chains, organizations with similar needs can be connected by users more efficiently to improve their capabilities (e.g., supply chain management, finance, and risk management) and facilitate the enhanced exchange of information between them (e.g., joint bidding and collaboration on new products).
Increasing Revenue
Blockchain technology can incentivize supply chain participants to work together more effectively in the interest of a greater return for all parties involved. When various stakeholders in a supply chain have access to detailed information about the value of the incremental supplies they provide, they can improve their efficiency and coordinate their work to maximize that value within their respective organizations – ultimately increasing the overall revenue tiers of the ecosystem.
Improving Digital Procurement
Blockchain technology can also help improve digital procurement across supply chains by improving transparency in data from suppliers and purchasers. For example, a supply chain participant could use blockchain to securely track their suppliers’ provenance and quality control while integrating this data into their existing systems. It would allow them to assess the potential benefits of digital procurement at a moment’s notice, which will help individual businesses better to predict consumer demand and plans for future purchases.
Encouraging Trust
Blockchain technology can increase trust within the supply chain ecosystem by bearing witness to the entity that originates each incremental supply and verifying its credentials in real time across all participants in the transaction. As a result, it can enable participants to adhere to new, more efficient standards and avoid situations that could create a lack of trust between parties.
Challenges
While there are many potential benefits blockchain technology may bring to the food and agriculture industry, there are also potential risks associated with implementing it. For example, a lack of knowledge or understanding about specific features of blockchain technology can create confusion or mistrust among various parties involved in a particular transaction. It can result in suboptimal decision-making for all participants and may ultimately reduce trust further down the supply chain.
Additionally, existing supply chains are not always equipped to support blockchain implementations’ technological needs–especially regarding information management systems and data storage.
The Future of Food & Agriculture Ecosystem and Blockchain
Agriculture is the world’s largest industry and is responsible for a significant amount of the world’s economy. With newer technologies like blockchain, we must get ahead of the curve on how to utilize them to enhance global food security and improve transparency for all parties involved. These technologies are also essential to be used correctly to ensure we reach our goals before it’s too late.
The benefits of using blockchain technology have quickly been illustrated in various industries, so why not agriculture? With the potential risks associated with implementing blockchain, stakeholders within the industry must take proper precautions when moving forward with this new technology.
The Future of Food & Agriculture Ecosystem and Blockchain is an exhibit at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York. The exhibit features several items, including a panel discussion on blockchain, exploring technology’s role in the future world of food and agriculture, and touching on some new developments in renewable energy.
