US company in blockchain plan to reduce losses after harvest

Silicon Valley-based software development company is partnering with a Kenyan start-up to launch a logistics platform for monitoring post-harvest losses of select farm produce.

In a statement, HashCash Consultants confirmed initiating talks with a Kenyan start-up but declined to disclose nature of their partnership on the planned early next year.

“The objective of the project is to strengthen the infrastructure of the agricultural sector with optimised logistics. The primary cause behind dwindling food reserves has been identified to be post-harvest wastage. The loss is close to a daunting 50percent of the produce,” said the statement.

HashCash said it will deliver a blockchain platform providing a decentralised distributed ledger that records quantity and quality of crops harvested, transported as well as its sale.

It said the data collected along the supply chain will be analysed to facilitate a more accurate calculation of post-harvest loss as well as help identify problem areas that could be improved to reduce the losses.

HashCash said the information collected will be safeguarded via encryption making the blockchain ledger reliable as the platform will automatically cancel out all possibility of manipulated reports and corruption.

“The Kenyan private sector is steadily looking to incorporate technological innovations to provide more efficient products that are easy to implement across industries,” it said.

The new platform will also provide a new avenue for raising cash based on specific needs of farmers and agro-processors.