Cocoa product company Koa uses Blockchain to help Ghananian farmers

Swiss-Ghanaian cocoa product company Koa has recently launched a blockchain-focused program that aims to improve the transparency of its supply chain and to take care of its Ghananian farmers by monitoring that they are being paid properly.

The company has teamed up with the Germany-based supply chain firm Seedtrace and South Africa-based telecommunications company MTN Group to support the program.

Koa has implemented a tamper-proof and scalable transparency system that monitors and tracks payments made to cocoa smallholders.Mobile money transactions are confirmed in real time and recorded on a blockchain in an irreversible manner. Transactions are made public, setting them apart from existing certification marks by giving consumers first hand proof that farmers are paid in full.

The Conseil du Cafe-Cacao, which supervises cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, has accused companies like Oreo and Mondelez, the maker of Chips Ahoy, of paying farmers less than a fair wage. Such practices, according to Koa, can be eliminated by publicly documenting payment data on a blockchain.

Koa uses Seedtrace

Koa’s supply chain architecture is built on Seedtrace’s platform. To record data on cocoa production and distribution, the platform uses the Topl blockchain. Farmers may use the data to trace where their products have gone and how they’ve been used, while customers can simply track the origins of the ingredients in their meals and guarantee that the farmers were adequately paid for their efforts.

On March 16, the managing director and co-founder of Koa, Anian Schreiber said that the company wants to eliminate the long, non-transparent supply chains. He believes that only the promises of ethical business operations cannot solve the problem, and the system should be easy for the consumers to audit.

“Instead of claiming good practices, we put our cards on the table to let the consumers witness each transaction to farmers.”

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