How Is Haiti Hoping To Utilize Blockchain?

The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Haiti, under the framework of the Business and Investment Development Project (PDAI), implemented since 2013 and financed by the World Bank to the tune of 20 million dollars, is planning to improve the agricultural machinery in the country, Blockchain Technology. The aim is to provide an innovative solution to the actors of the agricultural chain. Mango, avocado and pineapple from the departments of Artibonite, Center, Nippes and NorthEast are the sectors identified for this first pilot phase of the project.

A call for tenders was launched by the Ministry, where AgriLedger was the firm that was selected to deploy and pilot a blockchain solution facilitating payments and traceability of fresh fruit value chains. The implementation of such a system by the Haitian government will enable farmers to sell directly at inefficient markets, where the price is determined by supply and demand and not by the bargaining power.

Michel Ange Pantal, PDAI Coordinator explains

“With the Blockchain system, crops and payments are tracked and give farmers assurance of future payment while also ensuring buyers the expected quality of the products. This unpublished monitoring continues until the final consumer, who can then verify the identity of the farmer, the origin of the product (via GPS location) and even the evaluation parameters for each part of the value chain (transparent pricing)”.

According to Geneviève Léveillé, CEO of AgriLedger

“There are so many different actors: farmers, logistics providers, distributors and grocery stores, involved in agriculture that the current centralized systems simply do not work. With the support of the World Bank, we will help Haitian farmers get the best possible price for their products while giving end consumers the assurance that what they consume is both safe and fresh.”

Through this project, the MCI also is looking to subsidize training, technical assistance and common services currently missing in value chains in order to promote the export of fresh fruit, clothing and processed products towards the United States and the blockchain will be used in support of these three operations. Thus, this system, will ensure that the different exchange operations are carried on safely, transparently and instantaneously.

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.