BLOCKCHAIN AND IOT FOR DIGITAL TRACKING OF FOOD EXPORTIMPORT FLOWS

Abstract

Global food demand is increasingly outpacing production, leaving an estimated 690–780 million
people food-insecure, with the burden concentrated mainly in Asia and Africa. Cross-border food trade, which
could help alleviate these deficits, is constrained by fragmented and paper-based data flows that weaken endto-
end traceability, increase transaction costs, and slow regulatory audits.
This study proposes and evaluates a distributed digital-tracking architecture that integrates Internet of
Things (IoT) sensing, permissioned blockchain technology, and edge-cloud stream processing. Telemetry data
on temperature, humidity, shock, seal integrity, and geolocation are preprocessed and cryptographically signed
at the edge. Critical state transitions are then anchored on a consortium ledger, where smart contracts encode
shipment conditions, certification checks, and conditional payments.
A privacy-preserving data model separates sensitive attributes off-chain while maintaining a tamperevident
on-chain audit trail. The study also defines a KPI/KRI framework that links telemetry data to operational
and compliance outcomes, including service level, delay variance, spoilage, dispute frequency, and auditability.
Performance is assessed in pilot corridors using pre–post comparisons against matched control cases.
The results indicate improved transparency, faster exception handling, and reduced reconciliation effort,
suggesting lower waste and transaction costs. The findings demonstrate that IoT-anchored and blockchainsecured
traceability can enhance efficiency, trust, and regulatory compliance in food export-import networks
while contributing to broader food security objectives.