According to, Cambodian daily media outlet Khmer Times, Oxfam officially launched its BlocRice blockchain solution for Cambodian Rice.
BlocRice, aims to deploy smart contracts which will provide transparency and security between consumers and purchasers. The outlet highlights that it will expand to 5000 farms by 2022.
“The project aims to test blockchain technology and its smart contracts, a digital 3-way contract farming arrangement between primary producer, Cambodian rice exporter and retailer in Europe, to improve farmers’ livelihood and their supply conditions,” an information brochure from Oxfam explains.
The project focuses on the following parameters –
- Introduce blockchain technology to the organic rice value chain by registering all chain actors with unique identification codes on blockchain.
- Introduce smart (fair trade) contracts between farmers, their agricultural cooperatives and export companies to ensure proper (decent income for women’s farmers labor) payments and transparency.
- Introduce cashless payments to farmers based upon digital acceptance of delivery and through bank accounts with bank for agricultural cooperative members.
- Design a consumer communication component from Cambodian producers to the consumers.
The increased automation and visibility of individual farmers will allow them to set higher prices and avoid economic disadvantages.
“BlocRice promotes the use of such digital contracts as tools for social and economic empowerment,” the Khmer Times quotes Solinn Lim, country director of Oxfam in Cambodia as saying. Lim went on to add further :
“The application of blockchain technology is expected to enhance the negotiation power of small-scale farmers in their rice value chains, who are usually poor primary producers.”
Previously, Alibaba and local authorities in China partnered to address security issues in the Wuchang rice industry with the use of blockchain.
