Blockchain Papers

Meta Leonie Boller, Annikka Zurwehme, Christian Krupitzer

No abstract is available for this record.

Yan Li, Yun Lin, Ming K. Lim, Weiqing Xiong · 7 authors

To ensure the safety of fresh food, the cold chain logistics is widely utilised, which can provide a low temperature environment. However, due to the high energy consumption, how to reduce carbon emission of cold chain logistics to develop sustainable distribution has become the research focus. In response, this study proposes an intelligent distribution system for cold chain logistics to achieve green operations. Specifically, the framework of the intelligent system based on blockchain technology is proposed to improve operational efficiency and enhance food traceability. Meanwhile, an electric vehicle routing optimisation model taking into account carbon emission is deployed in the intelligent system to plan the distribution routes. The suggested optimisation model seeks to reduce the total cost, including fixed, spoilage, refrigeration, punishment, queuing, charging and carbon emission costs. Furthermore, an ant colony algorithm is embedded in the intelligent system to help with distribution routes design. Finally, this study combines a real case to discuss the performance of the intelligent system, and the results show that the proposed system can significantly reduce distribution cost and carbon emission. Managers can use the suggested intelligent system to design distribution routes and monitor the distribution process.

Ezhilarasan Peter John, Umakanta Mishra

No abstract is available for this record.

Muhammad Waqar Akram, Nida Akram, Fakhar Shahzad, Khalil Ur Rehman · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Miguel Arvana, André Dionísio Rocha, José Barata

The globalization of food markets has led companies to buy products not only locally, but also from other corners of the world. This has introduced complexity into supply chains, as products have to move longer distances and pass through more companies before reaching the end consumer. The meat industry has been no different. Events such as animal disease outbreaks have diminished consumer confidence in the industry and the supply chain. Coupled with this, consumers started demanding "more transparent" meat products. This has led companies to think about new traceability systems, which continue to enforce food safety and health rules, but at the same time enhance and make transparent to the consumer the origin and constitution of their products. This article proposes a traceability system in the agri-food (meat industry) with a multi-chain architecture, among them, blockchain. The use of blockchain in the traceability system helped to mitigate the omission of relevant data for the traceability process, allowing us to guarantee the immutability, reliability, and transparency of the data along the value chain. At the same time, the system was able to reduce the time of the traceability process by giving the user the possibility to access the traced information via a unique product identifier.

Guixia Xiao, Normalia Samian, Muhammad Faiz Mohd Faizal, Muhammad Alif Zakwan Mohd As’ad · 9 authors

Food security, as defined by the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, means that “all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life”. Food security is not just ensuring food sufficiency, but also ensuring the quality and the reliability of supply chains which have become more complex with diversified sources of farm productions. Some common issues in food supply chains are lacking efficient traceability of product origins and distributions. Blockchain is an emerging technology for the agricultural supply chain which could monitor food quality and safety by digitally tracking data and processes of material resources. Meanwhile, the Internet of Things (IoT) system is used for diagnosis and control in smart agriculture such as crop growth observation that can produce good quality and sustainable farm production. This work proposes a framework of the integration of blockchain with IoT to improve the reliability of food supply chain (FSC) by focusing on optimizing the consensus algorithm of blockchain. The expected outcome is to produce an efficient traceability and higher quality transactions which can integrate all procedures and dealings in real-time processes across the FSC.

Muhammad Usman Abbas Gondal, Muhammad Attique Khan, Abdul Haseeb, Hussain Mobarak Albarakati · 5 authors

The supply chain systems in the food industry are complex, including manufacturers, dealers, and customers located in different areas. Currently, there is a lack of transparency in the distribution and transaction processes of online food trade. The global food supply chain industry has enormous hurdles because of this problem, as well as a lack of trust among individuals in the sector and a reluctance to share information. This study aims to develop a blockchain-based strawberry supply chain (SSC) framework to create a transparent and secure system for tracking the movement of strawberries from the farm to the consumer. Using Ethereum smart contracts, the proposed solution monitors participant interactions, triggers events, and logs transactions to promote transparency and informed decision-making. The smart contracts also govern interactions between vendors and consumers, such as monitoring the status of Internet of Things (IoT) containers for food supply chains and notifying consumers. The proposed framework can be extended to other supply chain industries in the future to increase transparency and immutability.

Anupama Panghal, Sharmistha Pan, Priyanka Vern, Rahul S Mor · 5 authors

Summary This paper explores the potential of blockchain technology (BCT) in promoting sustainable food production and consumption (SFPC) from a consumer perspective. India, a significant global food producer, faces challenges related to affordability and food logistics due to transport and labour constraints. Food safety concerns, that is, foodborne illnesses and quality issues, alongside unexpected events like COVID‐19 and geopolitical conflicts, threaten SFPC. In recent times, consumer focus has shifted a lot towards food safety and security. The study adopted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify the factors strengthening consumer trust through BCT. The EFA helped classify the items into five factors, that is, reliability, sustainability, impact on health, trust and switching intentions. The results reveal that these factors are the most significant reasons consumers are willing to accept a blockchain‐enabled food system over a traditional system. The study findings will benefit organisations willing to introduce blockchain within their operations to improve the consumer base. It will also prove to be helpful for researchers and academicians to understand consumer perspectives towards BCT for SFPC.

Anandika Sharma, Tarunpreet Bhatia, Rohit Kumar Singh, Anupam Sharma

Purpose The food supply chain has faced many challenges due to its complex and complicated nature. Blockchain technology is one of the mechanisms used to improve agri-food supply chain processes by evolving organization capabilities. A study is being conducted to scrutinize the adoption of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain through the lens of the operational capability approach. It further makes an attempt to identify the capabilities of blockchain to improve supply chain processes. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews was used to gather information from experts and professionals in the food supply chain and blockchain technology. The authors have adopted a systematic approach of coding using open, axial and selective methods to depict and identify the themes that represent the blockchain-enabled agri-food supply chain. The data were collected from 32 interviews of selected participants. Findings The result shows five critical areas where blockchain can come up to enhance the agri-food supply chain performance by providing traceability, transparency, information security, transactions, and trust and quality. Further, the study reveals that blockchain will provide safety, lower the cost of transactions and can create trust among users to communicate within the whole supply chain without the intervention of a third party. This study demonstrated that the capabilities need to be considered when introducing technology into the practice. Research limitations/implications The study implies thought-provoking implications for bridging the theory-practice gap by examining the empirical data to demonstrate how the operational capabilities of blockchain technology further strengthen the agri-food supply chain. Additionally, this study provides some suggestions for utilizing the results and proposes a framework to understand more about blockchain use cases in the agri-food supply chain as well as extend the application of blockchain using an operational capability approach for future academic researchers in this area. Practical implications This study presented some more important managerial implications which reveal that the majority of organisations were in the initial stages of adoption process of blockchain technology. Further, the positive influence of managers and IT experts can help the information technology companies (IT) and stakeholders for developing and promoting blockchain solutions in the agri-food supply chain. The important implication of blockchain enabled agri-food supply chain is to maintain information security and incresae supply chain performance. Originality/value The study shows the operational capabilities of agri-food supply chain using blockchain technology. Blockchain can contribute in enhancing the agri-food supply chain to increase traceability and transparency and helps to reduce the risk of disruptions.

Urvashi Sugandh, Swati Nigam, Manju Khari, Sanjay Misra

Regulatory authorities, consumers, and producers alike are alarmed by the issue of food safety, which is a matter of international concern. The conventional approaches utilized in food quality management demonstrate deficiencies in their capacity to sufficiently address issues related to traceability, transparency, and accountability. The emergence of blockchain technology (BCT) has provided a feasible approach to tackle the challenge of regulating food safety. This research paper presents a methodology for implementing blockchain technology to establish risk traceability in the context of monitoring, tracing, and authenticating agricultural products. The proposed system underwent a comprehensive evaluation, which placed significant emphasis on simulation parameters and assessment standards. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system through the assessment of various quantitative metrics, including throughput, latency, and resource utilization. The Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Caliper were employed in the formulation and assessment of algorithms intended for agricultural supply chain management. The configuration comprising two entities and two peers achieved the highest write throughput (205.87 transactions per second; TPS), thereby demonstrating the network’s effective transaction processing capability. In a two-organization, two-peer system, the mean latency for read operations exhibited variability spanning from 0.037 to 0.061 s, contingent upon the transaction rates and accounting for the duration needed for network processing and validation. The results were visually depicted, offering a distinct demonstration of the system’s efficacy under various conditions. This study presents a quantitative analysis that illustrates the efficacy of the blockchain system in enhancing the traceability of agricultural products across the entire supply chain. The results of this research suggest that the implementation of blockchain technology could potentially enhance both the security and efficacy of food supply management.

A S M Touhidul Hasan, Shabnam Sabah, Apubra Daria, Rakib Ul Haque

The lack of new and advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Fog computing, makes it challenging to trace the origin of agricultural products in supply chains. In addition, the system’s traditional centralized architecture cannot provide a trusted traceability service for farming goods in these supply chains. This paper proposes a peer-to-peer Blockchain-based architecture integrating self-sovereign identity (SSI) and a decentralized key management system (DKMS) for a trusted and reliable traceability service for agricultural food products in the supply chain networks. The public Blockchain network Fantom will provide faster and cheaper transactions. In contrast, SSI will ensure the identity of each entity by adopting DKMS technology on top of Blockchain to facilitate faster authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality service of the supply chain’s transaction and verification process. The system is deployed on the different public networks, i.e., Fantom and Ethereum, and shows that the proposed Fantom-based Blockchain network outperforms in terms of transaction and verification timing.

N. Nasurudeen Ahamed, R. Vignesh, Tanweer Alam

No abstract is available for this record.

Oratile Leteane, Yirsaw Ayalew

The current state of recycling systems is marked by significant impediments to their efficacy. A lack of transparency often pervades these systems, which may result in an increased likelihood of fraudulent and corrupt activity. Additionally, traceability pertaining to recycled materials frequently proves inadequate. Together, these inefficiencies in the collection and processing of recyclables can lead to higher costs and environmental impact. Furthermore, low incentives may deter individuals and businesses from participating in recycling initiatives. Certain recycling systems may also suffer from limited compatibility with specific materials, further reducing their effectiveness. To address these challenges, we propose a permissioned Ethereum blockchain-based system that aims to incentivise and encourage recycling practices in a transparent and secure manner. The platform’s modular and multi-layered design makes it adaptable to various recycling scenarios, allowing it to handle diverse types of recyclable materials. Automated and streamlined recycling processes are achieved through the use of smart contracts. The proposed system offers a secure, transparent, and efficient platform for the management of recycling processes, promoting environmentally responsible behaviour towards a circular economy. Potential applications for the system include waste disposal and recycling management for smart cities, waste management for organisations, and tracking and management of operations for recycling companies. The platform is highly versatile and can accommodate various use cases in the recycling industry, including those involving traceable and untraceable materials, as well as individual and corporate use cases.

Teck Lee Yap, Rajkishore Nayak, Nhung Vu, Duy‐Tung Bui · 6 authors

Purpose Blockchain-based traceability technology (BTT) is an emerging digital technology that claims to have the potential to fulfil the demand for traceability to safeguard fruit safety. Drawing on the technological, organisational and environmental (TOE) framework, this study aims to investigate the perceived facilitators and barriers that influence the behavioural intentions of multiple stakeholders in the Vietnamese fruit supply chain (i.e., farmers, trading enterprises and consumers) to adopt BTT. Design/methodology/approach This study utilised a qualitative approach of semi-structured in-depth interviews with 60 stakeholders in the Vietnamese fruit supply chain to achieve the research objectives. NVivo 12 was employed to analyse the collected data using content and thematic analysis. Findings The findings identify several perceived facilitators that motivate BTT adoption. These include trust, transparency, business performance, the formation of alliances, consumer awareness of food safety and ethical agricultural practices, fruit branding and the pivotal role of farmers' cooperatives. Meanwhile, the perceived barriers to BTT adoption include a lack of digital literacy amongst the stakeholders, poor organisational culture, the high cost of traceability-enabled products and data privacy and security governance. Practical implications This study suggests that technology awareness and perceived facilitators and barriers should be incorporated into the design and deployment of blockchain-based traceability technology in the agri-food supply chain in developing countries. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first qualitative paper that attempts to fill the research gap of understanding the perceived facilitators and barriers that influence the intentions of multiple stakeholders in the fruit supply chain to adopt BTT in the context of a developing economy.

Khalil Ur Rehman, Shahla Andleeb, Maryam Ashfaq, Nida Akram · 6 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Prasanna Kumar, G. Bharati Mohan, Akilesh Rao S, Y Jaikanth · 8 authors

This paper presents a pioneering blockchain-based framework for enhancing traceability and transparency within the global agrifood supply chain. By seamlessly integrating blockchain technology and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the framework offers a robust solution to the industry's challenges. It weaves a narrative where each product's journey is securely documented in an unalterable digital ledger, accessible to all stakeholders. Real-time Internet of Things (IoT) sensors stand sentinel, monitoring variables crucial to product quality. With millions afflicted by foodborne diseases, substantial food wastage, and a strong consumer desire for transparency, this framework responds to a clarion call for change. Moreover, the framework's data-driven approach not only rejuvenates consumer confidence and product authenticity but also lays the groundwork for robust sustainability and toxicity assessments. In this narrative of technological innovation, the paper embarks on an architectural odyssey, intertwining the threads of blockchain and EVM to reimagine a sustainable, transparent, and trustworthy agrifood landscape.

Sarthak Dhingra, Rakesh D. Raut, Vinay Surendra Yadav, Naoufel Cheikhrouhou · 5 authors

The proposed study aims to identify the major challenges for blockchain adoption to manage reverse logistics activities of recyclable hospital waste in the Indian healthcare sector, in the COVID era. Fifteen challenges are identified through literature review and experts' views and are prioritized and analyzed for cause-and-effect relationships using a hybrid approach combining Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL). A sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the results' robustness. The results reveal that the Technological and Regulatory challenges category plays the most influential role consisting of Lack of Government Support and Policies, Lack of Strategic Planning, Lack of Knowledge and Qualified Expertise, Lack of Standards and Regulations, High Cost Involved, and Lack of Top Management Support are the most significant challenges affecting blockchain adoption. This study can support healthcare stakeholders, policymakers, government, and researchers in planning the strategic removal of the challenges to blockchain adoption in the Indian healthcare sector. The identification of the mutual interaction among the challenges will help healthcare decision makers address strategic questions of waste management from a holistic point of view. Since the work is achieved in the Indian healthcare context, generalization of the results must be carefully considered. The present study contributes significantly to discussing blockchain's potential in healthcare waste management. The study's findings can aid decision making process of managers, policymakers, and benefit researchers in this field. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12063-023-00413-9.

Benyelles Mohammed El Amine, Sari-Triqui Lamia

Blockchain is a decentralized and tamper-resistant digital ledger technology that records and stores transactions or information in a secure and transparent manner across a network of computers. Each transaction, or “block,” is linked to the previous one, creating a continuous chain of information. This technology ensures data integrity, transparency, and trust among participants, as changes to the blockchain require consensus from the network, making it highly resistant to manipulation or unauthorized alterations. It is a technology that has the potential to dramatically transform the supply chains. This study investigates the opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology in transforming supply chains, and the legitimacy of its implementation into the dairy industry. By conducting a comprehensive review of recent literature at the intersection of blockchain, sustainable supply chain, and the dairy supply chain, this paper aims to determine the best blockchain-based solution for improving the efficiency and sustainability of dairy supply chains.

Juan Carlos Olivares, Josue G. Gutierrez-Martinez, Jose A. Gutieerez-Gnecchi, Enrique Reyes‐Archundia · 5 authors

Since traditional agricultural traceability systems are largely centralized, traceability results are not always accurate, there is a risk of privacy data leakage. A trustworthy agricultural traceability system built on the Ethereum Blockchain was suggested to solve these issues. On the other hand, the use of Blockchain and IPFS (Interplanetary File System) dual storage architecture was created to lessen the blockchain’s storage demands for effective information queries and prevent data explosion. To stop the leakage of sensitive and other critical data, a method for data privacy protection is suggested based on cryptographic primitives. Using the Ethereum blockchain platform, a portion of the planned system was implemented, and a cost, performance, and security analysis were conducted in addition to a comparison with conventional agricultural traceability systems. The outcomes demonstrated that the proposed system could be effective and practical and satisfy future suitable application needs.

Shoufeng Cao, Henry Xu, Kim P. Bryceson

The increasing demand for sustainable and ethically sourced food products has highlighted the importance of effective sustainability communication within the food supply chain. Existing sustainability communication approaches encounter limitations such as a lack of standardised frameworks, information overload, greenwashing, and an absence of transparent reporting. These challenges hinder their effectiveness and reliability in communicating sustainability efforts and commitments to businesses and consumers in a food chain. Blockchain technology, with its transparent, traceable, verifiable, and immutable features, offers a promising solution to address these limitations and facilitate effective sustainability communication. This paper explores the benefits of applying blockchain traceability to enhance sustainability communication in food supply chains. Using the system architecture approach, this paper proposes a high-level architectural framework, which can navigate the design and development of a blockchain-enabled solution for food sustainability communication. To assist with the translation of the architectural framework into a tailored solution, this paper further presents an action design pathway and discusses the design considerations around organisation, technology, governance, cost, and the user interface. The discussions and insights offered by this study can guide system developers and business analysts in the design and development of industry-oriented solutions, helping them make informed decisions before and during the design process. This paper contributes to advancing and expanding blockchain applications with a particular focus on sustainability communication in food supply chains.

Peter Sasitharan Gandhi Maniam, Catherine Prentice, Anne-Marie Sassenberg, Jeffrey Soar

Background: Blockchain adoption in agriculture is facing challenges. Some of its key challenges include lack of regulatory framework and unclear policies. Methods: This quantitative research based on a survey aims to examine the factors that influence blockchain implementation in the agricultural sector. Several theories including the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and the technology readiness index (TRI) were drawn upon to determine the factors influencing Blockchain adoption. The study was undertaken in Australia with 358 agricultural supply chain experts. Results: A range of novel findings were generated. While perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude positively influenced Blockchain adoption, discomfort and insecurity were considered deterrents. Conclusions: The results can be used by relevant practitioners to improve the supply chain management for agriculture business. The findings can also inform a new direction for the research on the agricultural supply chain and the literature on logistics.

Guangjie Lv, Caixia Song, Pengmin Xu, Zhiguo Qi · 6 authors

In recent years, with the frequent crises of trust in the food industry, food safety issues have become an issue of particular concern to consumers. The traditional agricultural food logistics and transportation model can no longer guarantee the traceability of food safety information, and it is particularly important to establish an effective traceability system. Therefore, a traceability system is applied as a tool to assist in the assurance of food safety and quality, as well as to achieve consumer confidence. Blockchain is a new decentralized infrastructure and distributed computing paradigm that has gradually emerged. Blockchain has the characteristics of decentralization, immutable information and trustworthiness. When blockchain is applied to the traceability system of agricultural products, the quality of agricultural products will be well guaranteed. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the recent research efforts on traceability in agricultural products based on blockchain technology. First, the method of content analysis used in this article to sort out the papers is introduced. Second, the background concepts of blockchain and the key technologies are presented. Thirdly, the traceability applications based on blockchain technology for agricultural products are described in detail. Finally, we expand on the current trends and provide new perspectives pertaining to this exciting application of this field.

William George, Tareq Al‐Ansari

Blockchain has found wide acceptance not just in the DeFi and Crypto space, but also in digital supply chains, non-monetary transactions, and governance. Amongst many, the food supply chain is riddled with lots of inefficiencies and untraceable corruption. Hence, many have investigated the integration of blockchain technology into the food system. This paper discusses the major advancement in blockchain technology from the aspect of food security and proposes roadmaps for future applications in businesses. We dive into the different pillars of food security and how blockchains can play a valuable role in the technology infrastructure of food security in a holistic sense. Next, the paper also discusses the organizational, economic, and management aspects of technology adoption. Finally, we end by discussing the nexus between Blockchain and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), as well as Digital Twins, respectively.

Richa Verma, Utkarsh Verma, Kalpana Rawat, Richa Srivastava · 7 authors

Blockchain technology profoundly affects industries, especially social systems and management structures. This chapter outlines blockchain’s possibility of rebuilding management mechanisms with improved transparency, security, and decentralisation. It uses distributed ledger technology to challenge the hierarchical setups, thereby replacing them with much more egalitarian governance that provides more direct operational roles for individuals and communities. This could breed more accountability and equity. The following chapter explores, in great detail, the effect of blockchain in transforming social governance and management with real applications in supply chains, healthcare, education, and social entrepreneurship. It analyses the impact of blockchain on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and social impact investing and exhibits ideas on how corporations can better interface with communities. This chapter combines management concepts with the technological capabilities of blockchain to develop a holistic approach in leveraging current technology to create ethical and sustainable business models for meaningful interactions with significant societal challenges.