A global blockchain-based agro-food value chain to facilitate trade and sustainable blocks of healthy lives and food for all

Abstract

This article presents a holistic and integrated framework for blockchain deployment in global Agro-food ‘supply’ chains and how to transition them to accountable and sustainable global ‘value’ chains. Though many a scholarly contributions have assessed blockchain implementation at various levels in the chain, this research holistically looks at impediments to blockchain implementation at each level in the value chain. The study first establishes interlinkages between the three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely food for all (SDG 2), health for all (SDG 3), and sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12). It assesses the legal framework (namely trade law) and regulatory requirements therein. It then employs a case-study-based approach to assess blockchain deployment from the lens of operations management. These inter-disciplinary insights offer an enabling framework to successfully implement a vertically-integrated blockchain across the entire global Agro-food value chain. An end-to-end blockchain promises accountability, and thereby, enhanced trust in trade by offering a time-stamped ledger of transactions from the farm to the fork, to the end consumer. This systematic study, and its findings therein, are expected to serve as a ready reference guide to managers and policymakers for a truly integrated farm-to-fork blockchain deployment.