COW: A Proof-of-Concept DLT Platform For The Agri-Food Supply Chain

Abstract

Distributed Ledger Technology is increasingly employed to address real-world challenges, such as those encountered in agri-food supply chains. Characteristics such as immutability, accuracy, and resilience, facilitate transparency in trustless environments. We present a blockchain-based "farm-to-fork" solution that enables end-to-end traceability of goods throughout the supply chain. A brief overview of the current landscape and state-of-the-art developments enhances comprehension of the existing advancements and limitations. It reveals that many projects lack detailed information on the technologies and technical implementation. Moreover, energy consumption remains an acknowledged obstacle to the widespread adoption of blockchain technology. The COW platform, an open-source proof-of-concept, is introduced for tracing the lifecycle of livestock. The architecture and technical details of COW, which leverages the high-performance, low-cost, and carbon-negative capabilities of Hedera Hashgraph, are meticulously described. COW enables geotracking of pastures, veterinary interventions, as well as livestock acquisitions and transfers in markets.