Blockchain Papers

S. Balakrishnan, Manoj Govindaraj, A. Amala Suzana, L. Jothibasu · 6 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

M. Jayanthi Kiruthika Kv

The financial market has gone into paradigm shift from strict, highly regulated centralized system to open, easily accessible and permission less infrastructure for the last decades. These are powered by blockchain technologies. Decentralize Exchange is the primary source for this transformation which enables the direct person to person trading without intermediaries. DEXs also facilitates innovative entrepreneurial models in the Web3 which is an internet-built block chain technology where information is stored across multiple computers rather than central servers that create peer to peer communication without intermediaries. It also helps in the DeFi ecosystem, which is an emerging financial system using blockchain and crypto currencies to enable direct transactions without intermediaries. DEXs offer wide opportunities for SMEs, Startups, and marginalized communities in India. Despite its potential financial inclusion, sustainable growth and capital democratization still remain challenges in adoption of technology due to regulatory ambiguity, socio cultural barriers and complexity of technology. This paper examines the potential of Decentralized Exchange in fostering inclusive digital entrepreneurship in India. This study also analyzes the Tamil Nadu readiness in adopting blockchain technology. It develops a conceptual framework of linking DEX adoption, sustainability, and socio-economic outcomes. The study includes the theories like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Institutional Theory (IT), and Diffusion of innovation (DOF) and proposes testable hypothesis and proposition to guide empirical research and policy formulation.

Yanto Chandra, Dirk Honecker, Felix Honecker, Suwen Chen

No abstract is available for this record.

Jamilya Nurgazina, Joaquín Ordieres‐Meré, Thomas Moser, Gerald Reiner

Food donation became a strategy for reducing food waste and food insecurity. However, incentivizing food bank supply chain (FBSC) stakeholders to donate food instead of disposing of it, especially in the retail sector, is still a major challenge. The lack of transparency and incentives, process inefficiencies, and the lack of evidence on the effectiveness of food donations are some of the reasons that hinder the widespread adoption of food donation practices. Emerging technologies, such as distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), can potentially facilitate food donation processes (FDPs) by improving stakeholder communication, reducing distribution time, and extending the remaining shelf life of donated food products. With the existing lack of empirical studies on the technologysupported food donation and food sharing practices as well as on measuring their impact, this study provides an outlook on quantitative impact of DLTs implementation and their anticipated potential in FBSCs. A case study with two Austrian non-profit organizations in the food donation sector provided empirical input for developing and evaluating a simulation model. This study estimates the DLTs' implementation potential towards reducing food waste generated across two stakeholder levels, increasing the extent of satisfied demand in the FDP, and increasing the effectiveness of food donations by means of system dynamics modeling.

Jamilya Nurgazina, Gerald Reiner

No abstract is available for this record.

Igor Calzada

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly framed as a driver of economic transformation, yet its capacity to alleviate poverty in the Global South remains contested. This article introduces the notion of AI Economics—the political economy of value creation, extraction, and redistribution in AI systems—to interrogate h ow innovation agendas intersect with structural inequalities. This article examines how Social Innovation (SI) systems, when coupled with decentralized Web3 technologies such as blockchain, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), and data cooperatives, may challenge data monopolies, redistribute economic gains, and support inclusive development. Drawing on Action Research (AR) conducted during the AI4SI International Summer School in Donostia-San Sebastián, this article compares two contrasting ecosystems: (i) the Established AI4SI Ecosystem, marked by centralized governance and uneven benefits, and (ii) the Decentralized Web3 Emerging Ecosystem, which promotes community-driven innovation, data sovereignty, and alternative economic models. Findings underscore AI’s dual economic role: while it can expand digital justice, service provision, and empowerment, it also risks reinforcing dependency and inequality where infrastructures and governance remain weak. This article concludes that embedding AI Economics in context-sensitive, decentralized social innovation systems—aligned with ethical governance and the SDGs—is essential for realizing AI’s promise of poverty alleviation in the Global South.

Igor Calzada

This article investigates how Web3 decentralization unfolds in practice and asks two guiding questions: (i) How democratic are decentralized governance systems in practice? (ii) Under what institutional conditions can technological decentralization translate into social inclusion? Based on multi-year ethnographic fieldwork (2022–2025) across Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., Europe, and the Global South, this study draws on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and comparative analysis of seven ecosystems—Ethereum, MakerDAO, Uniswap, Mastodon, Celo, Grassroots Economics, and GoodDollar. The findings show that participation asymmetries are structural: token-based governance is dominated by a small group of technically skilled or capital-rich actors, while voter turnout often remains below ten percent. Intermediaries such as foundations, developers, NGOs, and cooperatives are indispensable for coordination, contradicting the idea of hierarchy-free decentralization. In contrast, projects that institutionalize clear membership, monitoring, and accountability—particularly in cooperative and federated settings—display stronger democratic resilience. Comparative evidence also reveals oligarchic consolidation in Global North ecosystems and infrastructural exclusion in the Global South. These results substantiate what Richard R. Nelson termed “the Moon and the Ghetto” paradox: extraordinary technical innovation without corresponding social progress. Interpreted through innovation systems theory, the study concludes that advancing decentralized technologies requires parallel investment in mission-oriented institutions that ensure participation, equity, and accountability in digital infrastructures.

Ashok M. Kanthe, Nishant More, Puja Padiya, Nilesh Marathe · 6 authors

Public Health Ration Distribution systems (PHRDS) are essential for ensuring food security for millions of people around the world. However, these systems are often plagued by challenges such as lack of transparency, corruption, and inefficiencies. These challenges can lead to food insecurity, limited coverage, and a lack of trust in the system. Block chain technology has the potential to address many of the challenges facing public ration distribution systems. Block chain is a distributed ledger technology that allows for the secure and transparent recording of transactions. In the context of the PDS, block chain could be used to create a tamper-proof record of the movement of subsidized commodities from the government to the end beneficiaries. The use of block chain technology would provide a number of benefits for the public ration distribution system. Increased transparency would make it much more difficult for individuals to divert or leak commodities. Enhanced accountability would help to reduce corruption. Improved efficiency would lead to faster distribution of subsidized commodities to beneficiaries. In addition to these benefits, the use of block chain technology could also help to build trust in the public ration distribution system. By providing a transparent and tamper-proof record of all transactions, block chain could help to ensure that subsidized commodities are reaching the people who need them most. The focus is on addressing the challenges faced by farmers in the procurement process of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India. The proposed solution using block chain technology would involve creating a distributed ledger that would record all transactions related to the public ration distribution system. This ledger would be accessible to all stakeholders in the system, including the government, farmers, millers, transporters, and ration shop owners. This would create a tamper-proof record of the movement of commodities from the government to the end beneficiaries.

Authors unavailable

In recent years, the integration of blockchain technology into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices has gained significant attention due to its potential to address transparency, accountability, and sustainability challenges in business operations.Blockchain, with its decentralized nature, offers a secure and immutable platform that allows organizations to track, verify, and share data related to their CSR initiatives in real time.This level of transparency enhances trust among stakeholders and provides a reliable way to demonstrate a commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices.Blockchain technology is emerging as a transformative tool for enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, offering innovative solutions to foster transparency, accountability, and sustainability.By providing a decentralized, immutable ledger, blockchain ensures that CSR-related activities are traceable, verifiable, and free from manipulation, thereby building trust among stakeholders and mitigating issues such as fraud and resource misallocation.This study explores the potential of blockchain technology to transform Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, focusing on its role in promoting transparency, accountability, and sustainability.Blockchain's decentralized and immutable ledger enables organizations to track and verify transactions, enhancing trust among stakeholders and ensuring ethical business practices.The study identifies key blockchain innovations such as smart contracts, decentralized finance (DeFi), and energy-efficient consensus mechanisms that contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).However, the adoption of blockchain in CSR initiatives faces challenges including regulatory uncertainty, integration complexities, scalability issues, and privacy concerns.To overcome these barriers, the research offers strategic recommendations, such as the adoption of energy-efficient blockchain solutions, the integration of smart contracts, and enhanced stakeholder education.This paper contributes to understanding how blockchain can be leveraged to create a sustainable and efficient CSR ecosystem, aligning business operations with global sustainability objectives.

David Olanrewaju Akisanmi, Olugbenga Itunu OGUNDERU

With Lagos facing significant challenges due to rapid urbanization, including inefficient food distribution systems and limited market access for farmers, this decentralized approach proposes an innovative solution. By leveraging blockchain technology, decentralized finance (defi), and smart contracts, the platforms aim to streamline transactions, reduce intermediaries, and ensure fair pricing. This paper explores the potential of utilizing Telegram decentralized web-3 mini-applications as e-commerce platforms to connect smallholder farmers with structured markets, enhancing the sustainability of food supply chains in Lagos, Nigeria. The paper examines the role of these technologies in improving transactional transparency, empowering smallholder farmers, and fostering equitable participation in the urban food supply system. It also proposes a comprehensive framework for platform implementation, assessing its potential economic, environmental, and social impacts. The study recommends a pilot project, policy advocacy, capacity building, and scalability plans to ensure the platform’s success and long-term sustainability. Ultimately, this decentralized e-commerce platform holds promise for revolutionizing food supply chains, empowering farmers, and promoting sustainable development in Lagos and other regions across Nigeria and Africa.

Bodo Steiner, Інна Макаренко, Kateryna Yuhai

Sustainability transparency in agri-food value chains is crucial for fostering accountability, enhancing consumer trust, facilitating compliance with regulatory standards, and ultimately contributing to the resilience and sustainability of food systems in the face of social, environmental, and economic challenges. This paper aims to conduct bibliometric mapping and a systematic review of the scientific landscape concerning transparency of sustainability disclosure in agri-food value chains by identifying the key transparency dimensions and relevant research gaps. An analysis of 841 Scopus-indexed publications, utilizing Scopus tools, SciVal, VOS Viewer, and Biblioshiny software, yields insights into source and author mapping from 2000 to 2022. Bibliometric analysis underlines the increase in research interests in transparency of sustainability disclosure in agri-food value chains after Sustainable Development Goals adoption and the COVID-19 pandemic, following upwards trend, especially in the UK, India, and the USA. The most influential topic clusters are supply chain, environmentally preferable purchasing, and green practices, as well as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Internet of Things with the strongest co-occurrences between transparency (as the most recent notion in scientific landscape) and sustainability, traceability, supply chains, food supply, and blockchain. Systematic review highlights the evidence that transparency as boundary-spanning phenomenon is explored within the mono-country and chain researches, case studies and interviews methodologies from triple bottom line dimension mainly, only introducing governance criteria. Research gaps were identified regarding the role of transparency in different economic system and chains; sustainability conceptual framework used; transparency dimensions incorporation; technology-driven progress and other chain characteristics (traceability, resilience) intersection. AcknowledgmentsInna Makarenko is gratefully acknowledging the support of MSCA4Ukraine project no. 1233713.This project has received funding through the MSCA4Ukraine project, which is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the MSCA4Ukraine Consortium as a whole nor any individual member institutions of the MSCA4Ukraine Consortium can be held responsible for them.

Sarah O'Donovan, Aisling Moran, Maria McDonagh, Lisa Ryan

The food industry is intertwined in every continent and culture, shaping dietary habits and economies worldwide (1) . Sustainability has become an increasingly important and widely discussed topic in the food industry influencing the decisions and actions of food industry companies and stakeholders worldwide. In an effort to become environmentally conscious and protect the earth for future generations, sustainability practices have been developed and integrated into food industry actions and policies which aim to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (2) . This study was part of a joint Erasmus KA2 European-funded project (2022-1-IE01-KA220-VET-000087508 Digitalisation of Sustainable Health Education) and aimed to explore current food sustainability priorities across the food industry in Europe and how initiatives are developed, implemented and evaluated to achieve food sustainability targets. In-depth semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted with 21 employees in the Food Industry sector across Ireland, Poland, Lithuania and Cyprus. These participants were selected based on their knowledge and oversight of their company’s sustainability practices. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed (3,4) , whereby the data were coded, themes identified and discussed by all authors. Three themes were identified in the data: 1. sustainable practice challenges, 2. factors for consideration, and 3. thinking to the future. Sustainable practices were already implemented in all but one of the 21 participating companies. The main drivers reported behind development of sustainable initiatives included complying to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and setting emissions targets such as being net zero by 2050 and minimising waste generation. Participants reported cost, time required for monitoring and evaluation, retaining quality of products, and employee engagement as the main challenges for initiative development and implementation. When developing a sustainability initiative, participants felt that employee and stakeholder understanding and acceptance were important to consider for the success of the initiative. Future goals and initiatives were positively discussed as expanding on current priorities to reduce emissions and implement sustainable procurement and production practices, and gaps in research were identified as the proliferation of environmental labels and exploration of greater inter-collaboration between companies to share sustainability data. A focus on becoming more sustainable was at the centre of innovation development and future proofing for all participating companies, with plans to develop new or further enhance current policies to continue producing quality food in an environmentally sustainable way. Educating employees and stakeholders, including nutrition educators and graduates, on future initiatives and potential impacts is essential for raising awareness, strengthening implementation and ensuring long-term maintenance and success of food sustainability practices within industry. Future research into a policy for sharing of sustainability data, such as raw sustainability metrics between companies could strengthen initiative outcomes and inform nutrition education and research to meet market needs.

Mirta Casati, Claudio Soregaroli, Gregorio Linus Frizzi, Stefanella Stranieri

Purpose Despite the growing interest in blockchain technology (BCT) applications in the agri-food industry, evidence of their economic and strategic implications remains scarce. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap by jointly investigating how BCT adoption affects transactional relationships, and how it contributes to the firm’s strategic resources. Design/methodology/approach An explanatory case study is conducted based on a theoretical framework grounded on transaction cost economics and the resource-based-dynamic capabilities view. Six BCT implementations by agri-food firms are studied. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Findings reveal that BCT benefits depend on how companies integrate technology across their supply chains. In fact, the results suggest that overall transaction efficiency within the supply chain is enhanced only for those firms prioritising stakeholder engagement during technology implementation and leveraging existing trust relationships with economic agents. Moreover, the results suggest that BCT is not yet perceived as a strategic resource, but rather that it has the potential to enhance firms’ operational-adaptive, absorptive and innovative capabilities. When all supply chain actors clearly understand blockchain’s functionality and value, the development of these capabilities becomes more pronounced. Practical implications The study identifies two BCT adoption configurations. One primarily focuses on enhancing supply chain efficiency and transparency (dynamic BCT), while the other uses BCT mainly for marketing purposes (static BCT). These configurations lead to varied possibilities for leveraging BCT’s potential advantages. Furthermore, they show how a mismatch between a strategic approach and its chosen configuration could work against any positive impact and lead to disillusionment with the BCT. Thus, managers should assess carefully the impact of such different configuration choices on performance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to attempt to analyse the economic implications of adopting BCT in the food sector from both a firm and supply chain perspective. Additionally, it shows how interpreting these impacts is contingent on the diverse modalities for embedding BCT into existing supply chains.

Patrick Burgess, Funlade Sunmola, Sigrid Wertheim‐Heck

The growing demand for transparency in sustainable food production creates a challenge for supply chains to meet the diverse information needs of stakeholders. This research addresses this challenge by identifying and prioritising information needs within sustainable food supply chains. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study identified 14 information needs, categorised them into three clusters: a) product and quality details information, b) production and processing information, and c) sustainability information, and prioritised the information needs. Experts highly prioritised information needs on quality and safety, followed by product origin and nutrition/ingredients. The research suggests that blockchain technology can play a role in supporting consumer decision-making. These findings can inform the development of information-sharing systems that enhance transparency and support consumer decision-making in sustainable food supply chains.

Alessandro Stasi, Onnida Thongpravati

The expansion of do-it-yourself (DIY) gene editing, facilitated by Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology, has catalyzed a significant shift in scientific research and biotechnology innovation. This movement is propelled by a community-driven approach that challenges the traditional confines of scientific exploration, allowing amateur scientists to perform sophisticated biological experiments. While this democratization fosters inclusivity and accelerates innovation, it simultaneously introduces significant biosecurity risks. The possibility of unregulated gene editing leading to the unintentional creation of harmful organisms or the deliberate engineering of pathogens underscores the need for a new regulatory framework. This paper explores the implications of DIY biology within the context of public health, environmental safety, and biosecurity, highlighting the urgency for adaptive policies that balance scientific freedom with security. It proposes integrating community-driven regulatory practices with formal oversight mechanisms by examining biosecurity implications, ethical considerations, and the potential for misuse. Additionally, the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) is explored as a novel approach to transforming governance within the domain of DIY gene editing, particularly in the context of CRISPR research.

Cristian Camilo Ordoñez, Mario Muñoz-Organero, Gustavo Ramírez-González, Juan Carlos Corrales

In Colombia, coffee futures contracts represent essential financial agreements that allow producers and buyers to establish prices, quality, and conditions for future transactions in the coffee market. Despite the evident benefits of stability and predictability, this practice faces significant sustainability challenges that threaten its long-term viability. One of the reasons is the significant lack of transparency in the supply chain. Farmers, affected by abrupt price fluctuations and adverse weather conditions such as the El Niño phenomenon, experience an increase in market prices, leading to the non-delivery of the final product, and contract breaches as they find better prices in the local market. In this context, smart contracts emerge as a promising technological solution to address these problems. These contracts enable the verification of each step in the process, from harvest to final sale, within a blockchain. Therefore, this research designs a smart contract managed through a platform called SmartBeanFutures, which records the clauses of futures contracts using the IERC721 framework, allowing the generation of a unique and non-repeatable asset. It aims to sell, promote, and manage coffee sale prices during the agreement’s signing, creating a transparent environment for chain actors. This proposal undergoes evaluation in a test environment, providing farmers access to the designed platform. Following the validation of the proposal, it was identified that over 74% would use this type of contract in their agricultural processes, highlighting that implementing this technology contributes to eliminating intermediaries in the chain and gives farmers more control over their participation in the market.

T. Hubenova, Johan Lindeque, Marc K. Peter

Abstract The business potential of blockchain technology in global value chains (GVCs) includes the creation of permanent records of information, to facilitate specifications regulation, to mitigate risk using smart contracts and through full, transparent transaction traceability at reduced costs. Blockchain as a general-purpose technology (GPT) thus has the potential to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of value creation for firm specific advantages owned and/or controlled by multinational enterprises (MNE), yet adoption of blockchain is uneven. This study adopts a micro-foundational lens to explain the non-adoption of blockchain technology in multinational enterprises’ (MNE) global value chains (GVC), emphasizing the influence of the technology, organization and environment (TOE) influences on the technology acceptance (TAM) for blockchain, due to the impact on managers’ perception of blockchain's usefulness and ease of use. The empirical results are based on a multiple-case study research design, that collected interview data from supply chain managers in small, medium, and large-sized manufacturing MNEs that participate in global value chains that differ in their governance patterns. The results identified fifteen different drivers of the non-adoption of blockchain technology across the technological, organizational and external environments of the MNE. The results of the study allow a parsimonious model of blockchain technology non-adoption that is aligned with the digital technology adoption literature using a TOE–TAM approach.

Nancy Ettlinger

In the context of extreme societal polarization, activists have mobilized to protest injustices and claim their rights, yet such efforts often fall short of goals because demands normally are directed to government or firms that offer superficial responses. Communitarianism, which broadly strives for autonomy from established institutions, promises the development of self-provisioning communities based on cooperative networks and participatory, democratic governance that prioritizes use over exchange value and redistribution over profitable activity for individuals. The emergence of Web3 and blockchain technology has ushered in new affordances such as scaling a communitarian enterprise and exchange of value independent of banks or other institutions. Whereas market-based organizations use Web 3 affordances for accounting purposes for profit, communitarian organizations aim to link accounting with designs to inject capital into a commons to support self-governing communities in community-based peer production (CBPP). To exemplify the broad range of approaches to the multifaceted goals of CBPP, I focus on FairCoop and Sensorica. Despite considerable differences, these organizations nonetheless share problems and generally are illustrative of longstanding challenges to communitarian enterprises – digitalized and non-digitalized alike. Perennial problems such as the fraught capitalist/postcapitalist relation, self-interest, uneven power relations, lack of diversity, and the challenge of responding adequately to societal needs combine with effects of automated governance and associated effects of technocracy that can dissolve founding values to threaten the integrity of a communitarian collective. CBPP as well as its non-digitalized counterparts are important contributions to humanity, but goals and actual practices can diverge. CBPP requires vigilant designs that complement rather than replace human decision making with algorithmic governance and pay attention to reflexivity and positionality, continualre-design to engage unanticipated problems, and distance actually existing projects from discourses that reify patterns such as decentralization with the consequence of missing crucial contextual knowledges.

Renzo Leonardo Pareja Urtecho, Jesús Rodríguez-Molina, Margarita Martínez, Juan Garbajosa

Small and mid-sized exploitations in the agricultural sector face several challenges, including excessive use of environmental resources, limited product visibility, and insufficient automation in farming operations. These issues result in increased operational costs, reduced crop quality, and higher risks of harvest loss, especially when weather predictions are unreliable. Addressing these challenges is crucial to improving productivity and sustainability in farming. This research work introduces a cost-effective Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that leverages Internet of Things (IoT) technology and blockchain -specifically, the VeChain network- to provide real-time data on crop conditions and weather forecasts. The proposed solution enables farmers to make informed decisions by offering actionable insights and monitoring crops growth and general progress over time, thus promoting more efficient and sustainable farming practices. Furthermore, the integration of blockchain ensures transparency and immutability of data, building trust between farmers, distributors, and end customers. This increased visibility and accountability can also enhance product traceability across supply chains. By tackling these issues faced by small and mid-sized agricultural exploitations, this project aims to modernize farming practices, optimize resource utilization, and contribute to long-term sustainability, helping to secure food production in the face of global environmental and economic turmoil.

Insaf Khelladi, Sylvaine Castellano, Catherine Lejealle

Although academic and practical interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has continuously increased over the last few years, there is still a need to better understand their social acceptability. The aim of the study was to explore the double edge of NFT legitimacy for NFTs by unveiling the role of sustainability and by adopting technology legitimacy and the field of sustainability transition studies as a theoretical lens. Specifically, this research investigates the role of sustainability in securing and maintaining technology legitimacy within NFT projects. We interviewed 12 experts through exploratory qualitative research. The findings highlight three main ways in which sustainability participates in the legitimation of NFT projects. While sustainability can be inherent in the NFT project itself, this legitimation can also be derived from the perceived sustainability of the NFT technology or be part of innovative business models. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are then discussed. JEL CODES: O33, O35, O50

Levon Blue, Congcong Xing, Phạm T.T., Kerry Bodle

ABSTRACT Indigenous peoples often invest in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) despite limited research in this area. We undertook this research to identify the demographics of Indigenous Australians who own cryptocurrencies and/or NFTs and to understand the challenges and opportunities faced. In this paper, we provide an overview of how alternative finance is reportedly used in Indigenous communities globally. Next, we focus on 62 Indigenous Australians who own cryptocurrencies and/or NFTs and participated in our online survey. We found Indigenous Australians who had university degrees, worked full-time, and owned a home had significantly higher levels of NFT ownership. The reported challenges were mostly related to storage, and the opportunities were connected to the potential for cryptocurrencies and/or NFTs as a long-term investment. Implications from this research include a continued need for financial planners to offer advice in this area, as schools were the last place Indigenous Australians learned about these alternative financial products.

Sabrina Scuri, Catarina Ribeiro, Valentina Nisi

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has the potential to transform the agri-food sector, empowering rural and underserved farming communities by enabling the creation of a more environmentally sustainable and socio-economically inclusive food system. Several PoC and pilot projects are running all over the world to test this specific use case. However, the success rate of these initiatives is still limited. A critical analysis of the state-of-the-art suggests as a possible explanation for the observed trend that the current research approach to DLT for agriculture is mostly technology-driven. This limits our ability to develop solutions that provide benefits to the communities they’re meant to serve, while potentially increasing inequalities and further marginalising these underserved groups. Achieving a sustainable and inclusive food supply chain entails a paradigm shift that goes beyond technological development to address how technology is socially constructed, thus implying the need for designing DLT applications around and together with users. By adopting a user-centred perspective to technology-enabled innovation, design can help shift the agri-food industry from being tech-centred to being people-centred. To explore the potential contribution of design for facilitating transformation and technology-enabled social innovation in the agri-food sector, we conducted a case study involving Portuguese small farmers which resulted in DigiFarm, a blockchain-based service concept. In this article, we detail the methodology adopted for the scoping and ideation of DigiFarm, concluding with a discussion highlighting the added value of adopting a design-driven approach to research and practice on DLT applications in the agri-food sector.

Junjin Chen, Zhou Hong

Promoting green agricultural production is becoming increasingly important in order to address resource and environmental issues and meet consumers’ demand for safe agricultural products. Green agriculture mainly refers to the adoption of green, smart agriculture technologies in agricultural production. Farmers are the main body of agricultural production, so guiding farmers to adopt green, smart agriculture technologies is of great significance for safeguarding the ecological environment. However, due to the combined influence of internal and external factors, the current level of adoption of green, smart agriculture technologies by farmers is not high. Contract farming can have an impact on farmers’ production behavior through various channels, such as guiding and standardizing production, and may become an internal driving force for improving the adoption of green, smart agriculture technologies. How do farmers make contract farming selection decisions? How does the choice of contract farming affect farmers’ adoption of green, smart agriculture technologies? Further research on the above issues can provide useful references for promoting the development of green agriculture and ensuring the quality of agricultural products in China. Against this backdrop, this paper, using research data about rice farmers in the Jiangsu Province of China, adopted a gradual regression method for checking the mediating and moderating effects to discover the mechanism of how contract farming influences rice farmers’ choice of green, smart agriculture technologies. The research results showed that: (1) contract farming has an evidently positive influence on farmers’ choice of green, smart agriculture technologies; (2) the high ecological value standard plays a complete mediating role in the process of contract farming influencing farmers’ choice of green, smart agriculture technologies; and (3) the moderating effect of planting rice income exists and is significant. When the income from cultivation is high, the positive relationship between the high ecological value standard and farmers’ choice of green, smart agriculture technologies is strengthened. Income from rice cultivation does have a moderating effect. Therefore, the government can actively guide farmers to participate in contract farming by increasing its publicity and support of contract farming. The implementation of the high ecological value standard in contract farming should be refined. The government should complete the mechanism for selling quality agricultural products at good prices. Contract farming can make farmers and corporations involved have deep cooperation, increase the non-agricultural income of farmers, and further enhance the overall income of their households. Through these measures, the development of green agriculture can be achieved.

Yixin Hu, Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar, Rong Kong

The application of smart agriculture is increasingly becoming a critical force in transforming the traditional methods of agricultural production in China. This change, based on technological innovation, is essential to promoting a sustainable production system in family farms. This study is based on the resource orchestration theory to investigate how smart agriculture affects the diversity of green production technologies (GPTs) on family farms. Based on a sample of 563 family farms surveyed in 2022, this study utilizes propensity score matching (PSM) methods and instrumental variables to analyze the effect of smart-agriculture adoption on the diversity of GPTs on farms. The findings reveal that smart agriculture has significantly increased the diversity of GPTs on farms by 8.5%. Network consulting services, value-added products, and environmental monitoring services are potential impact mechanisms underlying the positive effects of smart agriculture on the diversity of GPTs on farms. Furthermore, the increased diversity of GPTs is more significant on purely plantation farms, farms without contract farming, and farms with high levels of mechanization.