In Kenya, avocados contribute significantly to both local consumption and export revenues, with the country ranking as the fourth-largest producer globally and the top in Africa. In the global market, production is valued at over $15 billion in 2023.
Despite these achievements, only a fraction of the harvested avocados reach the international market, primarily due to the challenges faced by small-scale farmers. These farmers, who account for 70% of the production, struggle with access to technology and networks, alongside facing common agricultural hurdles such as pests and diseases.
To address these issues, One Million Avocados (OMA), a Kenyan startup, has partnered with Dimitra, an AgTech firm specializing in blockchain technology. This collaboration aims to equip local farmers with advanced tools such as AI, IoT, and blockchain, enhancing productivity and compliance with environmental and social governance standards. Through digitizing 10,000 avocado trees as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), Dimitra and OMA are pioneering the tokenization of real-world assets, thus providing transparency and new opportunities for smallholder farmers in Kenya.
Source: cointelegraph.com
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