The Blockchain and Fish - Atieno's Story
Atieno is a 32 year old widow living next to the shores of Lake Nyanza ("Victoria") and has six children. Her sole source of income is through the sale of fish. In a region where women are exploited (sexually, economically),it's becoming increasingly difficult to support herself and her family especially when fish populations at the lake are dwindling.
Here is Atieno's dilemma:
- She can't fish at night when most fishermen are out because she has to be home with her kids.
- To get the best fish from the fishermen, she has to trade in favors, sexual mostly exposing her self to all sorts of STD's.
- At the market, prices are not fair and may change in the blink of an eye. Most times she hardly makes anything and may resort to favors to at least earn something.
- Her sixteen-year-old daughter is pregnant and has had to quit school and wait to give birth. She got pregnant trying to help her mother by trading a 'favor' for some food during the school holidays.
Can Atieno and many women in her situation be helped, is there a solution? How would you help?
Afew weeks ago i met an Engineer passionate about creating and developing technical solutions for social development, and as we were speaking he mentioned about fish farming in Nyanza. His idea:
- Develop community run fish farms, specifically run by women groups as they are the most affected.
- Develop a solution or way to ensure that the fish being harvested is of the right age, weight and has been sustainably sourced.
- Develop a solution to ensure that the women get the right prices for the fish they sell. Can they be connected directly to the customers instead of using middlemen?
I thought, why not use blockchain technology to come up with a solution?
- Distributed Ledger Technologies offer an audit of all transactions in the blockchain. Atieno can agree with a potential buyer on the price without influence from middlemen.
- Regulators and buyers can see where the fish was bred when it was caught and other details to ensure it was sourced sustainably. It offers transparency for all.
- Atieno is able to set herself apart as a reputable seller to buyers and build her business, meaning no more trading in of favors.
- Regulators will be able to see inadequacies within the supply chain and develop measures to curb them e.g how long does fish take to go bad a day? Can low-cost refrigeration solutions be employed?
What's your take? Can distributed ledger technologies offer part of the solution?
Next, we will look at a blockchain solution (potential) that can aid in fish farming in developing regions, stay tuned!!
P.S Atieno and her family are fictional characters but represent real life struggles women and children go through in these farming regions.
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A good way to apply blockchain technology to our local problems. Fair trade is what is important for all. Fish farmers need to have a direct contact with the consumers and thus get a better price. I think even before distributed ledgers, tech apps like ones used to connect arable farmers with real time prices using mobile capabilities can be sought to learn from how they have been successful. For the blockchain technology to work also, there may need to be education and above all all the stakeholders need to agree to use this equal platform; fish farmers, the retailers, the sleazy middlemen, the county govt and all relevant players. Its a good idea; will be following.
Truth
The old traditional way of doing things is no longer applicable to today's business model. Use of technology has to be adopted for us to succeed. Good initiative @cmbugua keep it up.
Thank you for stopping by.
Will you be developing this? I would want to see it in action. This is very possible. Keyword "very ".
It was an idea we were discussing with someone about how supply chains can be made leaner especially food supply chains and I will try and develop it further, the possibilities are endless not only in the food supply chain, It is very possible, the issue now will be adoption
I love that you are always thinking of solutions. Great post.
I think it's a great idea. The whole principle behind blockchain is decentralization which is what is needed in Atieno's situation. In our area of the world concepts like the Grameen Bank were implemented to help empower rural women. To have a blockchain based equivalent everyone will need to have a device that can access the blockchain. Everyone will also need to have a consensus on the system. It'll take some time and a few hurdles to actually get working, but it's a great initiative. Blockchain technology should be used for social change!
Using USSD still anyone can access the blockchain, as a user you just input a code into your mobile device, a proxy receives the request and posts it into the blockchain network, a response is sent to the proxy which relays back to the user that is you. Irrespective of your device the blockchain network can still be accessible, but it's still a work in progress.
This concept, imo, is very promising. To me, this is exactly why cryptocurrencies will become even more valuable worldwide. They can actually help solve real world problems which have hit a standstill, or breaking point, regarding fiat. It is incredibly sad that women have to resort to "favors" and still cannot sustainably support themselves and their families. I am not sure if you are familiar with @earthnation but they might be worth looking into. I think one possible way to help address these types of issues in a fishing community such as the example, would be to fundraise through cryptocurrency projects that incorporate aquaponics, aeroponics, and permaculture. I am not blockchain expert, but I DO see ways the blockchain can make a big difference in these types of situations. Thank you for your post.