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Tea & Coffee Trade Journal | Dimitra, a blockchain-based operating system for agricultural technology, and Arasco Food BV, an international food trading corporation, has announced a joint pilot project that will digitise, modernise and make compliant coffee supply chains in Cameroon.
Led by Dimitra Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of Dimitra Incorporated, this partnership utilises blockchain technology to enhance farming processes and ensure market compliance with the upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), set to take effect at the end of 2024.
As part of the new partnership, Arasco will employ Dimitra’s tailored Connected Coffee platform to allow farmers access to blockchain traceability solutions that will act as a transparent, traceable supply chain for regulators and smallholder farmers. The pilot project aims to ease the burden of data management for smallholders and family farmers in Cameroon to ensure they receive certificates of compliance in line with new EU regulations, which will ban imports from crops grown on deforested land after 2020. The project will onboard 5,000 farmers to the Connected Coffee mobile application, providing them with comprehensive tools for farm registration, crop management, farmer surveys, and data acquisition.
Andreas Cerdan, director of Dimitra Europe, said: “Our Dimitra team is excited to be working with Arasco to prepare one of their key coffee origins for EUDR compliance. Rather than shying away from remote origins, Arasco takes this decisive step towards a fully digitised supply chain.”
Dimitra’s Connected Coffee platform draws data from various emerging technologies (including AI, satellite imagery, IoT, genomics and more). It translates these many data points for agriculturalists, helping to stabilise year-round production and increase the quality and quantity of coffee cherries produced per farm. Dimitra tracks the flow of goods from farms to Arasco’s processing units, ensuring they can improve processes and ensure regulatory compliance across global markets for local stakeholders, farmers, and traders.
Müsteçep Aras, CEO of Arasco Food BV, said: “At Arasco Food BV, we are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Dimitra. This partnership represents a significant step forward in improving the socioeconomic conditions of thousands of farmers in Cameroon through digitisation. By adopting the Connected Coffee app, we can enhance sustainable coffee production and trading in line with EUDR while we also support the local communities. We are excited to be part of this transformative journey and look forward to the positive impact it will bring.”
Farm registration and training have already commenced in the Littoral and West regions of Cameroon. Upon completion of the pilot programme, Dimitra and Arasco plan to implement across further global supply chains to continue the commitment to full traceability and compliance.