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UNIDO’s Global Quality Programme Conducts Feasibility Study For Blockchain Technology

...For The Ghanaian Cocoa Value Chain
Business & Finance UNIDOs Global Quality Programme Conducts Feasibility Study For Blockchain Technology
MAR 18, 2020 LISTEN

ACCRA, 18th March 2020. – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Global Quality and Standards Project (GQSP) in Ghana, funded by The Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), piloted a methodology to assess the readiness of a value chain to adopt the blockchain technology in partnership with SIM (Supply Chain Information Management B.V.)

A fact-finding mission has been conducted to pilot the methodology developed in collaboration with SIM in the Ghanaian cocoa value chain and provide recommendations for the adoption of the technology.

“Blockchain technology is aimed at securely storing and sharing information on transactions across a network of users, and can serve to improve proof of integrity along the value chain including quality attributes, environmental and social compliance to standards. One of the biggest benefits is its shared nature. Whereby key data transactions are validated in a given point of the supply chain can be monitored at any point in time,” said Juan Pablo Davila, UNIDO Project Manager.

“Blockchain is able to provide real-time, accurate and complete interconnected data on provenance, quality, safety, transportation, certification and product ingredients from farm to end consumer,” Mr. Davila added.

UNIDO officials, experts on Blockchain and a European retailer integrated the mission. It included visits to the cocoa value chain stakeholders to map and understand their risks, key transactions and identify their readiness for the adoption of the technology. The visited stakeholders included key actors in the value chain that participate in a transaction and generate validated data, these include farmers, primary producers, cooperatives, transporters, warehouses, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Licensed Buying Companies (LBC), Quality Control Company (QCC) and the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC), Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG), Cocoa Health and Extension Department (CHED).

European retailers and chocolate producers in developed countries are interested to ensure the sustainable provenance of their ingredients, and making sure premiums given for sustainable certified and high-quality compliant cocoa reaches the right farmers, thus contributing to their living wage and income.

SIM has worked with over 30 European retailers and producers in making supply chains transparent, and collect and validate data they can use to continuously improve their sustainability impact where it is most needed. They joined UNIDO on this fact-finding mission:

“The aim of our Blockchain projects is to have a positive impact and focus on the first mile, the smallholder farmers, their communities and environment. During the fact-finding mission, all actors in the Ghanaian cocoa supply chain warmly welcomed us. With this mission and project we hope to be of added value and can build on existing initiatives and taking the next step to empower cocoa farmers, democratize data, increase digital traceability and meeting growing market demands on transparency and sustainability.” Said Leontien Hasselman, CEO of SIM.

“The fact-finding mission is the first milestone for the application of blockchain in the cocoa value chain in Ghana. It will lay down the foundation for the next steps of its implementation.” Expressed Safoa Osei, GQSP Ghana Chief Technical Advisor.

UNIDO has been providing technical assistance in Ghana with the support of SECO for more than 12 years. The Trade Capacity Building Project (TCB / 2007-2018) provided opportunities to enhance Ghana's quality infrastructure systems and expand the exports of Ghanaian products, including cocoa. The GQSP Ghana builds up on the results of the TCB project and continues to support the strengthening of the quality of the cocoa, cashew and oil palm value chains.

About UNIDO
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Its mandate is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition and work towards improving living conditions in the world's poorest countries by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise.

For more information about UNIDO, please visit: www.unido.org

About SECO
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is Switzerland's government centre of expertise for all core issues relating to economic policy. SECO's economic development cooperation strives to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, high employment, increased productivity, reduced poverty, inequalities and creating the necessary legal, economic and policy framework. In Ghana, one of Switzerland's priority countries for economic development cooperation, SECO supports among other measures towards improved competitiveness and diversification of the economy.

For more information, visit: www.seco-cooperation.ch

About MOTI:
The Ministry of Trade & Industry is the supporting government agency of this programme and the lead policy advisor to the government on trade, industrial and private sector development with responsibility for the formulation and implementation of policies for the promotion, growth and development of domestic, international trade, and industry.

For more information, visit: http://moti.gov.gh/

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