Blockchain in African Agriculture (Fintech Fridays Special Edition with Binance Africa Ep.8)

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, welcome to Fintech Friday's series on The Sound of Accra Podcast, where we unpack economic topics and affairs across the African continent.

[00:00:10] I'm your host, Adrian Daniels, where we explore blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in a lot more detail.

[00:00:17] Special thanks to our sponsors, Binance Africa. Binance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume.

[00:00:30] Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features.

[00:00:37] An unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions and more.

[00:00:53] For more information, visit www.binance.com.

[00:00:57] For more information, disclaimers, risk warnings and links, please check the podcast description section below.

[00:01:04] In today's episode, we will explore how the role of blockchain is influencing African agriculture.

[00:01:10] References used for today's episode will all be found in the podcast player description section below.

[00:01:16] Let's get straight into it.

[00:01:17] African agriculture has always been revolutionized by Web2 technologies this century.

[00:01:23] You've got the likes of FarmerLine, headquartered in Ghana, who help farmers grow in Ghana by providing tools, access to markets and quality training.

[00:01:32] On top of that, you've also got other companies like Kamaza from Kenya, who have been around since the early 2000s, specializing in supporting farmers who want to produce a sustainable timber business with supplying adequate technology and training.

[00:01:48] Such tech firms on the continent are making a huge impact on agriculture.

[00:01:53] Just imagine the impact Web3 will have on Africa agriculture.

[00:01:57] Blockchain technology is transforming African agriculture by making it more data driven, improving the effectiveness of farming systems and processes, as well as increasing financial inclusion for even more farmers who need it the most.

[00:02:13] I would like us to dive into some areas where blockchain is making a significant impact in African agriculture.

[00:02:19] Let's get straight into it.

[00:02:21] Let's talk about land ownership and insurance.

[00:02:25] Blockchain is transforming how land ownership is done on the African continent, whether you believe it or not.

[00:02:31] Now, it's making it a lot more difficult for supposed landlords to get cheated on, or even in some cases, avoiding buying land that already belongs to someone else in Africa.

[00:02:42] I mean, how many times have you heard that story before?

[00:02:46] These are some of the experiences that happen to people in Africa, believe it or not.

[00:02:51] Now, if you've been an avid listener of the Sound of the Crowd podcast, you may recall me interviewing someone on Season 5 who goes by the name of Kweku Essien, who is the Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder of Seso Global.

[00:03:07] This is an African real estate agency that services popular countries across the continent, including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.

[00:03:16] In this episode, Kweku discusses how his company has worked on smart contracts for the real estate and land transactions that are backed by the blockchain for transparency and security purposes.

[00:03:29] In addition to wanting to help Ghana land commission to use the blockchain to make land transactions and checking much more efficient.

[00:03:39] Now, having discussed a number of times during this special Fintech Friday series with Binance Africa, that Ghana is looking to have the first government in Africa with a blockchain powered government.

[00:03:54] Now, if this is the case, then I don't think we're too far away from having organizations or even institutions such as the Land Commission in Ghana being backed by the blockchain.

[00:04:06] And if that's the case, then we're really going to see transparency and security come to industries such as real estate, which will make more effectiveness and bring more efficiency to that specific industry.

[00:04:20] In addition, there are insurance policies that farmers can take out, which are backed by the blockchain Ethereum.

[00:04:25] Now, if you listen to one of the previous episodes in this special Fintech Friday series, Powered by Binance Africa, we do discuss Ethereum backed insurance policies to help farmers protect their crops.

[00:04:39] You can go back to the description below and you can take a look at that episode and listen back and see what we said about that.

[00:04:46] The blockchain is also making an impact in terms of market access and traceability.

[00:04:51] So if we want to look at platforms like Cardano, which are currently supporting the farmers and selling direct to consumer, just imagine being able to purchase farm supplies with low risk of farmers not getting the invoices paid.

[00:05:06] Whilst on the other hand, the consumer is in a position to quickly transfer funds for purchasing from the farmer.

[00:05:14] You can see what the blockchain can do to bring transparency, speed and accessibility for all parties involved in any kind of transaction.

[00:05:24] Another area which has been discussed many times on this special Fintech Friday series with Binance Africa is finance inclusion.

[00:05:31] Now, the blockchain has made it possible for other types of funding and even micro banking services to be a reality and a relief for farmers who may typically originate from more rural areas and are more likely to be unbanked.

[00:05:45] A very exciting area being disrupted in African agriculture is food security.

[00:05:50] OK, now this has brought improvements to supply chains in countries such as Kenya.

[00:05:55] Now, Purdue University in Indiana, Purdue University in Indiana, America teamed up with farmers in Western Kenya to develop a smartphone based solution to aid with tracking and transporting agriculture products like vegetables to the end user.

[00:06:13] This also shows the importance of working side by side with farmers when it comes to agriculture technology to make sure that you are building for the right audience as no one knows the audience better than the farmers themselves.

[00:06:26] Now, this app provides data on the processing and sale of goods for all value chain stages and ensures that transactions are captured digitally for the ease of digital receipts.

[00:06:38] Now, this app also comes with digital wallets that doubles up as many banking axes as well, which can be used to manage payments on the platform.

[00:06:47] Now, this is a fantastic solution.

[00:06:50] Now, the solution has been so successful that it's been adapted for other types of farming produce such as coffee and cocoa.

[00:06:57] Now, if you'd like to hear more stories like this in terms of what's happening in the African continent in regards to Africa and the blockchain and cryptocurrency and similar stories, why don't you check out Binance Square?

[00:07:21] Now, this is restricted for certain regions such as Africa and you'll be able to read and hear a lot more stories like this.

[00:07:30] We'll leave a link in the description below if you're in that region.

[00:07:34] Other than that, thank you again for listening to today's episode.

[00:07:37] Once again, for more information on Binance and disclaimers, risk warnings and links, please check the podcast description section below.

[00:07:45] You'll also find references from today's episode.

[00:07:48] See you in the next one.

[00:07:49] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:07:50] Take care.

[00:07:51] Bye-bye.