Successful Scoping Trip for AIV Blockchain Project

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our every day lives, I was able to travel to Kenya in November to visit with my Egerton University faculty colleagues to conduct the initial scoping for the Exploring the Use of Blockchain Technology to Improve Food Security Through African Indigenous Vegetables in Western Kenya project. While COVID certainly presented additional complications to ensure that all team members and local communities were safe, we had a very productive trip indeed! Myself and fellow co-PI Joseph Mwangi travelled to Kakamega county to learn more about how African Indigenous Vegetables are produced, traded, and sold to local consumers. We learned a lot about the structure of the value chain, which in actuality is more of a web of interconnected individuals, many of whom are women, looking for marketing opportunities for these highly nutritious vegetables. Joseph and I were newly enthused about the project as we saw so many opportunities for the solutions that blockchain offers to not only help address existing inefficiencies in the value chain but to open up new markets and income earning opportunities. Many of the value chain actors we spoke too were excited about the possibility for introducing technology into their operations. However, we learned some valuable insights as well. For example, one retailer mentioned that she is interested but weary to participate in another technology based project as the last time she participated in such an intervention her account was hacked and she lost money in the endeavour. This emphasizes the responsibility we have as development practitioners, entrepreneurs, and researchers to ensure that we do not overlook security in the technological innovations we are introducing. Perspectives from this retailer and others will continue to feature a prominent role in the app creation and deployment as we move forward.