BRINGING FOOD PRODUCTION, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION TO THE BLOCKCHAIN

GLOBAL FOOD NETWORK (GFN)

BRINGING FOOD PRODUCTION, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION TO THE BLOCKCHAIN

The Food Coin (TFC)

FACT: “The global food system is dysfunctional. People go to bed hungry in some countries while others consume too many calories and throw away massive amounts of food. Opportunities to fix the broken food system are urgently needed”

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction

2. Global Food Needs Analysis (GFNA)

3. The Problem

4. The solution

5. Global Food Distribution Network

6. Global Food Security

7. Business Analysis

8. The Food Coin (TFC)

1. INTRODUCTION

GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

Food is the fuel for life, allowing people to live in good health and with dignity. Food security is a prerequisite for building the next generation of human capital in any country, and the right to adequate food is an internationally recognized human right. But, for many, it remains a right only on paper. Even in a world of decreasing poverty, food insecurity persists. In 2014, more than 11 percent of people globally were food insecure.

Today, food insecurity is a problem of access rather than a question of production volumes. Soon, even with perfect global distribution in place, food supplies would not be sufficient to feed the world’s growing population. There is a need to find food for the equivalent of another India and another China in the next 50 years. And it cannot be found simply by increasing productivity. The world is approaching a food gap.

In low HDI countries, up to 40 percent of the available food is lost on farm or during handling and storage. As countries move up the HDI scale, the percentage of food wasted in production and storage declines, but the percentage wasted during consumption increases. In high HDI countries, up to 60 percent food is wasted in restaurants and homes.

An enormous amount of calories are used as animal feed to satisfy demand for protein-rich diets. The growth of the global middle class will accelerate this trend, with three billion people estimated to enter the global middle class by 2030. Meat consumption is projected to double from

2014 to 2040. More meat means more greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, which could triple by 2055, if current dietary trends and population growth continue. Crop yields are already reduced in some parts of the world due to climate change. Elevated ozone levels have caused losses of about 10 percent for wheat and soybeans. Global warming of more than 3 degrees will exceed the agriculture’s adaptive capacity.

Today’s food systems are global in nature but governed by numerous regional and bilateral trade agreements. The World Trade Organization is the grand idea of one unified trade regime levelling the playing field for all actors in global trade. But the world of trade is fragmenting rather than unifying. While annual WTO conferences continue, a myriad of bilateral and regional trade agreements is forming.

Fragmentation is to the detriment of food insecure countries, as weaker countries have less leverage in bilateral negotiations. UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) work to promote food security, but they bring with them a silo approach to the systemic problem of food insecurity.

2. GLOBAL FOOD ANALYSIS

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

A global dietary transition that includes putting more local produce and a varied source of proteins on our plates is an opportunity to put people, planet and our common prosperity on a healthy track. It is new diets for the world. Diets are closely linked with environmental and human health. Large parts of the world population eat a diet rich in unhealthy refined fats, refined sugars and meat – and it is taking its toll. People are getting heavier and loose years of healthy and productive living on that account, our planet is getting warmer and our health expenses increase. A global dietary transition that includes putting more local produce and a varied source of proteins on our plates is an opportunity to put people, planet and our common prosperity on a healthy track.

MEAT FOR THE FUTURE

Meat is delicious, but it quickly becomes unsustainable if we eat too much. Today we have a great deal of knowledge about our dietary needs and how they can be met in a healthy and environmental friendly fashion, but little of this has been turned into new products leaving ample room for innovation. Securing a wide source of quality proteins in the diet is a prime concern and bringing protein rich plants back to our plates and in our fields can aid this. The demand for plant-based proteins is set to skyrocket in the future offering business an opportunity to innovate and meet consumers’ appetite for novelty. Plankton and insects are attractive candidates for new stable protein-rich meat alternatives. It is about inventing meat alternatives that look, feel and taste like animal meat, with the familiar texture and variation, but with a lower CO2 footprint.

EATING UGLY FOOD

Supermarkets seem convinced that consumers will not buy food which has the “wrong” weight, size or appearance. However, a recent survey shows that most consumers are willing to buy heterogeneous produce as long as the taste is not compromised.

For some crops, up to 30 percent of a harvest is often deemed too ugly to leave the farm and ends in landfills because it does not meet the societal expectation of what we consider edible. Marketing campaigns by retailers, governments and schools are an opportunity to drive a change in the perception of what proper food should look like to drive ugly food onto our plates, not in the garbage.

A NEW GLOBAL DIET

A new global diet is an opportunity for change-makers, such as famous chefs, to take the lead in promoting dietary changes by altering the public perception of local and sustainably produced food. Reigniting an interest in – and a taste for – indigenous foods can help improve nutrition for those at risk of suffering from malnutrition while improving biodiversity.

Business plays a key role in promoting a global dietary shift by pushing healthy and protein-rich meat substitutes onto our plates such as legumes, seaweed and insects. Exploring more varied and protein intensive diets can result in more people consuming the recommended amount of nutrients. Companies can be leaders in this movement by making vegetarian dishes the default option at conferences, on airplanes and in other forums where large groups of people eat.

In all, reintroducing native plants and developing protein-rich meat alternatives are opportunities to address the global food crisis in a way that shapes a healthier planet with

healthier people living in healthier economies.

SMART FARMING

Vast dissemination of advanced technological tools at an affordable price has meant that both large and small-scale farmers have new and more precise tools to produce more with less. It is smart farming to produce more with less.

Farmers have always used information about wind and weather to know when to plant and harvest. Recent development and dissemination of advanced technological tools at an affordable price have resulted in both large and small-scale farmers having new and more precise tools to produce more with less.

Farming takes skills. You have to know when to plant, when to water, when to fertilise and when to harvest. You need to know how to protect your crop from pests and from spoiling after harvest, and you need to know what the proper price is for your produce. Luckily, farmers worldwide are facing a suite of technological advances that can assist them in growing more food and bring more of it to market at a fair price. The opportunity for making farming smarter can increase yields and profits and reduce the use of precious water and fertilizer.

A FARMER’S MOST VALUABLE TOOL: THE PHONE

The phone is the new agricultural tool. The fast growing access to communication services also for smallholders offers a range of benefits to farmers. Better weather and climate data will help planning which crops to plant, when to harvest etc. Moreover, with a phone in hand, even small-scale farmers can connect to new customers who were previously unreachable giving them greater power in the marketplace. This kind of knowledge was previously the reserve of farmers on modernised agricultural production units but can now be available to a much wider group.

GROWING MORE WITH LESS

Another set of advances that can aid farmers globally is precision farming. It is techniques ranging from relatively simple and affordable drip watering to advanced hydroponics which allows farmers to target water and fertilizer precisely when and where plants need it. Rising prices for agricultural inputs like water and fertilizers are fuelling the development of smart farming technologies and techniques to produce more with less. Some countries regulate water and fertilizers use on farms, which in turns drives the uptake of precision farming practices. As an added benefit, targeting fertilizer to where it is most needed can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming currently amounting to between one-fifth and one-third of greenhouse gases emissions.

SMART URBAN FARMING

Smart farming is also an opportunity in cities. In urban areas, lack of vacant plots of land is driving more and more urban farmers to produce food upwards on the side of buildings rather than outwards. This vertical farming is a spatially efficient option for urban food production, which can be made smart by the use of information technology to time and target inputs.

Even today, urban agriculture produces 15 to 20 percent of the world’s food supply and plays a major role in global food security. Most urban farming is placed in low income areas, adding directly to food security of the poorest part of global population. Urban farming can be made smart through the use of information technology to increase yields.

This smart farming opportunity can benefit from the development of a variety of different types of technologies e.g. analytics solutions, sensors, soft- and hardware systems and positioning technologies. If successful, it has the potential to increase agricultural production, improve small farmers’ competiveness and provide a growing urban population with fresher produce.

CURBING FOOD WASTE

From our farms to grocery stores to dinner tables, much of the food we grow is never eaten. Reducing food waste is an opportunity to innovate along the value chain.