Caricrop: Can a digital payment system support fairer agricultural trade?

Abstract

What difference can new technologies make for small-scale farmers facing a multitude of uncertainties that could affect not only the value of their crops but also when and whether they get paid? To understand how Distributed Ledger Technologies such as Blockchains, could be leveraged to address such uncertainties in agricultural trade, we engaged small-scale farmers in a problem delineation exercise and designed CariCrop, a payment system and currency that specifically addresses the issue of delayed payments. We investigated the potential impact of this system through immersive drama and deliberative workshops. We found that although digital payment systems can give farmers greater autonomy in agri-cultural trade, these systems do need to be designed with careful consideration of social values and integrate local economic and legal infrastructures.