The future of farms necessarily involves the adoption of technologies that will guarantee access to quality information for buyers
News about the relaxation of the rules for the pesticides usages and about the deforestation of the Amazon worries not only potential foreign buyers of agricultural products, as well as conscious consumers. In the war of commercial interests, information published without criteria, without listening to all sides involved in the food production system, especially meat, fruits, vegetables and grains, tend to have a general impact on all producers.
Sustainable and unsustainable are put in the same basket. Everyone is harmed, no matter what. A veterinarian and partner at Exagro, a consulting firm specializing in sustainable agribusiness, Rodrigo Mendonça believes that image damage creates injustice. They harm farmers indiscriminately.
According to him, distorted information involves ranchers who develop sustainable actions for raising cattle for beef. Cases like this occur, for example, in the south of Pará. Owners of areas that received stimulus for occupation by state governments in the 1970s are, today, harmed, even with investments in sustainable practices .
The analysis of the performance of producers must take into account that the phenomenon of sustainability is relatively recent. The concept of sustainable development was proposed by the Brundtland Report, in the document entitled Our Common Future, published in 1987.
Alternatives
With the growing pressures of climate activists and the transformations of the planet's economy, the future holds growing challenges for ranchers. In France, non-governmental organizations are mobilized to guarantee restrictions on products from countries that do not respect sustainable rules.
The European Commission must present for debate and vote, this year, in the European Parliament, a project to regulate commercial practices that involve the so-called “imported deforestation”. The objective is that products such as soy, beef, cocoa and other raw materials from deforested areas can no longer be sold on European territory.
Brazil is explicitly a central target of these actions. Environment organizations demand that the final text of parliamentarians includes the complete list of products that contribute to the destruction of the environment, such as raw materials originating from the cerrado or wetlands. Other parallel initiatives have already been implemented to fight against imported deforestation.
Technology solutions
The future of farms necessarily involves the adoption of technologies that will guarantee access to quality information for buyers. A prominent innovation is the blockchain, a system of linked data blocks that record operations and transactions in a decentralized and immutable way. For livestock, specifically, all activities in the production process can be traced, offering greater guarantees for the market and consumers.
From farm to table, the entire history of each animal can be recorded. From birth to weight evolution, diet, diseases, vaccines, diet changes and other relevant events are tracked. After slaughter, the procedures continue with distribution and marketing in supermarkets and restaurants.
"A good producer will have a higher cost of provenance. So all this damage to the perception that European consumers or consumers from other parts of the world have in relation to Brazil, unfortunately, will persist for years. And even if there are commercial interests behind it all, we are reaping what we sowed”, observed Douglas Sathler, professor of geography at the Federal Universities of Vale do Jequitinhonha and Mucuri, in an interview for the RFI website.
THE PROBLEM
Pressures against agricultural production are growing due to the increasing demands for sustainability in the market, especially abroad.
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION
Blockchain: enables tracking of all stages of the production process and access to information required by intermediate and final buyers.
WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
Compliance
Show cultivated areas
Bring open data information about the producer
Transparency and accountability (responsibility)
Investments
Carbon footprint
Customer in direct contact with the producer
IMPACT
Importers and customers will be more confident about the quality, safety and origin of Brazilian agricultural products.
Agricultural producers are no longer in a commodity business and start to add value to its brand and production.
To learn more about Blockchain and sustainability, contact DdF at contato@designersdofuturo.com