This project seeks to enable more sustainable food and energy systems by creating more direct channels between consumers and farmers across food supply chains. Consumers have growing interest in supporting sustainable and environmentally friendly food and energy production practices. They will consider paying more for products that contribute towards cleaner air, water, and natural environments if they can be assured sustainability goals are being met. Farmers and suppliers are also interested in improving field-to-market supply chains. Advances in information technology and computational systems could allow farmers and suppliers to keep track of their practices in ways that consumers can incentivize. Blockchain networks are a computational approach to securely storing and sharing records that could fill this role. However, our scientific understanding of how blockchains could work to increase consumer awareness of sustainable products, incentivize farmer participation in sustainable practices, and lead to a dynamic system with long-term environmental benefits is limited. This project will evaluate the feasibility of blockchain networks to connect farmers to consumers and thereby increase agricultural practices that improve sustainability. Broader impacts from this study will include the development of fundamental mechanisms and metrics for the design and prototype of blockchain networks in agricultural and other industries. Curricular materials will be developed to educate K-12 teachers and underrepresented minority students on the engineering aspects of blockchain networks to better prepare them for future technological advances. Additionally, these materials will be incorporated into the People in Ecosystems Watershed Integration (PEWI) model for use in K-12 classrooms.
The project will develop a framework for blockchain networks that connects farmers and suppliers to consumers in a field-to-market supply chain. The framework investigates optimal blockchain network designs in terms of economic cost, accessibility, energy use, and information efficiency. Some of the factors that will be considered include the network structure, the information storage medium, and the transaction model. The optimal design will also account for consumer and farmer acceptance to encourage broad participation. The driving hypothesis is that consumers will be willing to pay higher prices for products when the incentive can be traced directly to the original supplier. The findings could lead to novel approaches for developing market-driven incentive systems that empower consumers to support sustainable practices.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
