Conclusion 21
Abstract: The world economy is drastically changing, and as of today, emerging economies account for approximately 59% of the total global domestic product (GDP).1 With seven of the ten largest agricultural producers and exporters being in emerging economies, the agricultural sector constitutes a large portion of these economies. Agriculture accounts for almost one billion in global employment and is the largest employer of women in developing nations. However, ongoing issues, such as lack of transparency and efficiency, plague the industry. Today, nearly 40% of the world’s agricultural land has degraded due to either environmental changes or soil problems caused by unsustainable agriculture or mismanagement.2 Furthermore, demand for non-food biofuel crops, development of former farm lands, rising transportation costs, climate change, consumer demand, and population growth are threatening food security. As most of these economies are going through developmental transitions, they face the additional problems of political instability, corruption, international debt, and lack of infrastructure/agricultural financing options.
Smallholding, which forms the bedrock of agriculture sectors in emerging economies, is considered by the International Fund for Agricultural Development as part of the solution to global food security. According to economists, agriculture was the pillar of the industrial revolution, and in today’s perspective, effective and innovative agriculture has the potential to be the pillar of the new digital revolution. Additionally, a report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute suggests that agricultural technologies will have the greatest impact on food production if adopted in combination with each other. The purpose of this study is to identify and dissect current and potential future problems associated with the agricultural industry, and potential solutions to these problems through emerging technologies such as blockchain. The publication will also introduce several companies or projects that utilize blockchain technology and will discern whether their solutions address critical problems or introduce new market opportunities associated with the agricultural industry.
The following map provides a look at the percentage of each nation’s population employed in the agricultural sector in 2017:3