Blockchain technologies: ensure food security

Pictured: FAO expert Misha Tripoli

02/11/2021

Why is blockchain relevant for food chains as well? What is its application in agriculture? These and other issues were discussed on Thursday, 28 October, during the research seminar "Blockchain technologies in ensuring food security".

The online conference, organized by the FAO Information Сenter and the Department of International Complex Problems of Nature Management and Ecology of the MGIMO University with the support of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation (FAOLOR), was devoted to the best practices in the field of blockchain technology application in the agri-food sector. The conference was moderated by Andrey Nikiforov, PhD in Agricultural Science, Associate Professor at MGIMO University, Igor Shcherbak, PhD in History, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador and Leading Researcher at MGIMO University.

Oleg Kobiakov, FAOLOR Director, reminded that "the FAO Mandate concerns not only agriculture, but also forestry, fisheries, development of rural areas, trade of food and non-food products of the agricultural sector, food security, and finally the widest exchange of information in all these areas, that is now called the distribution of the food chain". He noted that each of us acts as a consumer of agricultural products, so the relevance of using technologies, such as blockchain ones, in ensuring food security is dictated by life itself. Distributed ledger technologies (DLT) can transform the global food system by increasing efficiency along the entire length of supply chains, increasing trust, transparency, and traceability.

Irina Donnik, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, highlighted the main areas of agriculture where methods are used and blockchain technologies can be applied, including, she noted, unmanned vehicles, animal visualization, bioinformatics, and the climate agenda. “This area will develop rapidly. We already see that the role of blockchain in technologies is rapidly increasing," Irina Donnik said. "At the same time, we should not replace true and fundamental science with the application of technology," the expert concluded.

During the main part of the seminar, a report was made by Misha Tripoli, expert in the field of trade and economics, Economist of the FAO Department of Economics and Trade. In his speech, he spoke about the problems in the application of blockchain technologies and the methods of solving them in the agri-food sector.

The FAO expert presented an overview of DLT and their application in food systems and agriculture, analyzed the consequences of state policy for food security and rural development, identified potential problems, risks and prospects. "Blockchain is one of the DLT types. It is also referred to as the "Internet of Values", which means a secure way to store and transfer various values – currency, shares, contracts and even votes cast in elections – from one holder to another.”

He identified several main problems that can be solved by using blockchain technologies in the agricultural sector, such as:

1) the underperformance in food chains,

2) the openness and the possibility of logistic tracking of food chains,

3) the accounting of a vast number of factors affecting trade, as well as other logistical difficulties and the rapid adaptation to changes of external factors.

Misha Tripoli noted that the so-called tokenization allows using unique business models to pay farmers and to create sustainable and responsible supply chains.

Summing up the results of the seminar, Oleg Kobiakov recalled that this "distributed data registry technology is conceived as a friendly interface to facilitate the execution of a number of operations."

The seminar was also attended by: Igor Smirnov, DScTech, Laureate of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology, leading researcher at the "Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM"; Nadezhda Orlova, Head of the Innovation Economics Department at the HSE Institute of Agricultural Research; Maxim Lobovikov, PhD in Economics, Director of the Institute of Management and Economics of the Forest Sector of SPbSFTU; Anton Guglya, Head of the structural unit for quantum-stable cryptography "KuApp"; Daniil Bobkov National Union of Milk Producers.

In addition, MGIMO students Maria Bakhireva and Maxim Kudryashov also presented their reports.

The event was attended by representatives of the scientific community, private sector, Russian and foreign students, and other experts.

The presentations at the seminar can be found in the recording.

Presentations by the participants:

Misha Tripoli: Opportunities and challenges for blockchain in the agri-food industry

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