- Ripple groups with native teams to check blockchain traceability and credit score instruments for 300 Colombian farmers.
- Farmers use QR codes to trace panela crops, promote transparently, and repay loans after harvest.
Ripple, in partnership with Colombian agriculture know-how firm WËIA and enterprise arm Mercy Corps Ventures, has launched a six-month pilot that’s designed to reshape agricultural finance and traceability for small farmers in Colombia. The initiative is XRP Ledger-powered and is about to affect 300 farmers, offering a blockchain-powered provide chain mannequin that would clear up long-standing issues within the agriculture sector.
Excited to launch our newest Ripple Affect collaboration with @MCSocialVenture as a part of our Unlocking Alternative initiative. https://t.co/fWZfU6pwxM
In partnership with WËIA, this pilot leverages the XRP Ledger to check how blockchain traceability may enhance incomes for 300…
— Ripple (@Ripple) May 15, 2025
The initiative is a part of Ripple Affect’s Unlocking Alternative program, supporting monetary inclusion by know-how. Mercy Corps Ventures is in a number one place as a associate within the initiative. The initiative has a excessive gender focus—46% of farmers concerned are ladies, virtually doubling the nationwide common of 26% in Colombia.
Farmers taking part within the pilot will produce roughly 240 tonnes of panela on a month-to-month foundation. This unrefined cane sugar is an agricultural product of main significance in Colombia. The amount affords a big basis for trial of blockchain’s potential in transparency of the availability chain and revenue stabilization.
Farmers Get a Break — ‘Pay Later’ Mannequin Revolutionizes Credit score Entry
This system relies on WËIA’s platform developed on the XRP Ledger that gives end-to-end tracing from planting by way of harvest. Consumers are supplied with QR codes in every batch of product for assurance of the products’ origin and sustainability stage. The system is about up for the rising want for clear sourcing practices.
The construction of the XRP Ledger facilitates this by permitting safe, reasonably priced, and sustainable recording of information. Not solely does the system of traceability show manufacturing provenance, but it surely additionally presents new monetary instruments for farmers, akin to a “Farm Now, Pay Later” mechanism. Underneath this association, farmers get inputs in the course of the planting interval with out instant fee, paying for them later with harvest proceeds by way of the usage of traceability.
At the moment, one of many main points within the rural economic system of Colombia is that there is no such thing as a monetary historical past and documentation. Roughly 86% of small farmers are working informally, and 79% of these within the rural areas have restricted or no accessibility of credit score. Because of this, most obtain 70% of the minimal dwelling revenue of the nation.
Monitoring Affect By Clear Metrics
The initiative, supported by Ripple, has set out three testing targets. One is figuring out how traceability info impacts the market worth of farmers’ produce. One other is measuring retailers’ satisfaction with being depending on audited data. A 3rd is figuring out how farmers are concluding formal contracts, together with ahead contracts, with massive consumers throughout this system.
The pilot additionally responds to worldwide problems with meals authenticity. Business sources estimate that meals fraud covers as much as 10% of world provides and causes as much as $50 billion in losses yearly. Through the use of immutable product histories, the mission prevents fraud and offers a dependable system for stakeholders.
The long-term goal is making use of blockchain for the aim of boosting farmers’ confidence in sourcing and increasing smallholders’ monetary inclusion. If profitable, the Colombian pilot may function a mannequin for extending it into different areas with analogous challenges.
