Digital Agriculture Blueprint for Tanzania

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Digital Agriculture Blueprint for Tanzania

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

95000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Tanzania's national agriculture programs are hindered by siloed, inaccurate data. A verifiable, interoperable data foundation is needed to unlock digital financial services for smallholder farmers.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://nfts.digifarm.io
,
• https://digifarm.io/
,
• https://digifarm.io/blog/digifarm-and-cardano-360-revolutionizing-agriculture-with-blockchain-powered-smart-fields-in-kenya
,
• https://china.un.org/en/294303-ifad-and-china-partner-leverage-digital-solutions-climate-resilient-agriculture-tanzania

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

Yes. This project has two key dependencies: A Local Agri-Tech Partner: The successful onboarding of 1,000 farmers is dependent on securing the collaboration of a local agri-tech company from within UNCDF's established network in Tanzania. This is a core part of Milestone 1. Strategic Feedback from UNCDF: While not a formal partner for this specific concept proposal, the project's ultimate success—creating a blueprint that leads to a larger scale-up—is dependent on the engagement and feedback of UNCDF's team to ensure perfect alignment with their national program goals. Technical Partners: We have a dependency on our existing, confirmed partners (NMKR Studio, Blockia Labs) for the on-chain components.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

No

License and Additional Information

The blueprint, smart contract templates, and data schemas produced will be open-sourced (MIT). This pilot deploys our existing proprietary AI models to generate the open, verifiable outputs.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.

Financial Services

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

This project's innovation lies in its strategic alignment with a national-level digital transformation agenda. While past funds built the core tech (FieldNFTs), this project applies it as a targeted solution to solve the data interoperability challenges identified by UNCDF and the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture. It’s the first project to design a specific, scalable blueprint for integrating Cardano's RealFi stack into a government-supported, multi-stakeholder digital ecosystem in Africa.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

Our MVP will be a live pilot in a target Tanzanian region (e.g., Dodoma), demonstrating the core components of the blueprint. This includes: (1) On-chain minting of FieldNFTs for ~1,000 farmers. (2) Issuance of verifiable DIDs to those farmers. (3) A dashboard showcasing the enriched, interoperable data. The results, including a detailed project blueprint and a live demo link, will be shared with UNCDF, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Catalyst community to validate the model for a larger scale-up.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

Success is the delivery of a validated blueprint for national scaling. Metrics: 1) Onboarding of ≥1,000 farmers with DIDs linked to FieldNFTs. 2) Creation of a detailed technical and operational roadmap, co-designed with feedback from agri-tech partners and aligned with UNCDF's program. 3) On-chain activity from the pilot (mints, DID associations). The ultimate success is this project's outputs forming the direct basis for a fully-funded, large-scale Fund 15 partnership.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Context & The National-Level Problem:

The Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture, with key support from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), has launched a multi-year, multi-million dollar program called "Data for Digital Agricultural Transformation" (D4DAT). The central problem this national initiative aims to solve is the profound lack of data interoperability and sharing between government platforms and the private sector. Currently, agricultural data is siloed, fragmented, and often inaccurate, making it impossible to effectively deliver digital financial services—like credit and insurance—to the 65% of the population employed in agriculture. This project is designed to provide a direct, foundational solution to this high-level, validated problem.

Our Solution: A Digital Agriculture Blueprint for Tanzania

This project will design, pilot, and document a "Digital Agriculture Blueprint"—a scalable model for creating a foundational, trusted data layer for Tanzania's agricultural sector using Cardano. It serves as a live proof-of-concept and a direct precursor to a larger, national-level deployment in partnership with UNCDF and its network. This is not just a whitepaper; it is a living laboratory that will produce real data, onboard real farmers, and deliver a tested roadmap for scale.

The project has four core components:

1. Deploy a Targeted Pilot in a Priority Region: Based on our strategic discussions with UNCDF, we will select a priority region (e.g., Dodoma) and a local agri-tech partner from their existing network. We will onboard approximately 1,000 smallholder farmers, creating a controlled environment to test and validate our model.
2. Create Verifiable, On-Chain Assets (FieldNFTs): For each of the ~1,000 farmers, we will use our proven AI and satellite data pipeline (developed in Funds 11-13) to automatically delineate their field boundaries. We will then mint a unique FieldNFT on the Cardano blockchain for each field, enriching it with up to 40 years of historical productivity and land-use data. This creates an immutable, verifiable, and data-rich digital asset representing the farm itself.
3. Link Farmer Identity (DIDs): We will issue each pilot farmer a W3C-compliant Decentralized Identifier (DID). This DID will be cryptographically linked to their on-chain FieldNFT. This crucial step creates a privacy-preserving "farmer passport," a verifiable link between a person and their land's performance history, without exposing personal information on the blockchain.
4. Develop the Blueprint for National Interoperability: The ultimate deliverable is the Blueprint itself. This comprehensive document will synthesize all learnings from the pilot and serve as the master plan for a national-scale Fund 15 partnership. It will include:
   1. Technical Architecture: A detailed diagram and specification for how the Cardano-based data layer can serve as a "single source of truth" for various government and private sector systems.
   2. Operational Playbook: A step-by-step guide for mass onboarding of farmers, training local partners, and managing data verification.
   3. Governance & Partnership Model: A framework for data governance, defining roles for the Ministry, UNCDF, MNOs, and private agri-techs.
   4. Investment Roadmap: A detailed budget and timeline for a full-scale national deployment.

How This Solves the Problem:

This project provides a direct, tangible solution to the data silo problem identified by the D4DAT program. By putting the farmer's core data—their land and its performance—on a trusted, neutral, and open platform like Cardano, we create an interoperable foundation. This allows different stakeholders (government, banks, insurers) to access and build upon the same verified data in a standardized way, finally unlocking the potential for scalable digital financial services.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project acts as a strategic gateway for Cardano into a national-level digital transformation initiative, creating immense and multi-layered value, credibility, and long-term growth opportunities for the ecosystem.

• **Strategic Alignment with a National Program & UN Partnership: **This project positions Cardano as a foundational technology provider for Tanzania's D4DAT program. A successful pilot and blueprint create a powerful case study for how Cardano can function as public infrastructure, opening doors to further government, NGO, and institutional partnerships in Africa and beyond. The credibility gained from aligning with a UN-supported national strategy is invaluable and serves as a powerful endorsement of Cardano's RealFi capabilities.
• **A Blueprint for Scalable Real-World Adoption: **The primary impact is the creation of a tested and documented blueprint for mass adoption. This is not a theoretical model; it is a playbook forged from real-world pilot experience. It will detail how to onboard hundreds of thousands of users, solving the "last-mile" challenge that so often hinders blockchain projects. This playbook becomes a reusable asset for the entire Cardano community, lowering the barrier for other projects to launch large-scale initiatives in developing markets.
• **De-Risking Future Large-Scale Treasury Investments: **This ₳95,000 "concept" pilot is a highly strategic investment. It serves as a de-risking mechanism for a much larger, multi-hundred-thousand ADA "Partners" proposal in a future fund. By proving the model, technology, and partner alignment on a small scale, we build undeniable confidence among voters and partners. This ensures that future, larger Treasury deployments are made with maximum efficiency and a high probability of success, representing responsible stewardship of community funds.
• **Tangible On-Chain Footprint and Real-World Use Case: **The project will generate thousands of meaningful on-chain transactions, including the minting of ~1,000 FieldNFTs and the issuance of ~1,000 DIDs with on-chain verification links. More importantly, it creates a powerful and easily communicable story: "Cardano is helping farmers in Tanzania get access to the financial system." This provides tangible, human-centric marketing content that powerfully demonstrates Cardano's vision.
• **Direct Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): **This project directly contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Formally aligning a Catalyst-funded project with the UN's global agenda is a major strategic win for Cardano's global positioning and brand.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Our feasibility is exceptionally high, grounded in three core pillars: proven technology, direct partner alignment, and a deeply experienced team:

• **Proven Technology & Catalyst Track Record: **Our ability to deliver is backed by a multi-fund history of success in Project Catalyst. We are not proposing high-risk R&D; we are applying a proven tech stack to a new strategic opportunity.

  1. Fund 11: Successfully developed the foundational AI models and proved we could generate unique, verifiable digital identities for fields from satellite data.
  2. Fund 12: Delivered a fully functional web dApp (nfts.digifarm.io) with NMKR for minting over 500 FieldNFTs, proving our capability to build user-facing applications on Cardano.
  3. Fund 13: Enriched the on-chain assets with 40+ years of historical performance data, demonstrating our ability to manage complex data pipelines and deliver valuable, metadata-rich NFTs. This track record demonstrates our accountability and our ability to ship full pipelines, from AI models to live dApps.

  • **Direct Partner Alignment (UNCDF): **This proposal's feasibility is massively enhanced by its origin: a direct strategic meeting with UNCDF's digital finance leadership for the region. The project is explicitly designed to align with their "Data for Digital Agricultural Transformation" (D4DAT) program. This isn't a cold approach; it's a targeted effort to provide a solution to a problem that UNCDF is actively working to solve. This direct alignment with a key stakeholder's expressed needs makes the project's success and future adoption highly probable.

  • **Experienced Team & Roles: **Our core team combines world-class expertise in agriculture, AI, and blockchain implementation.

    • Project Lead (Nils Helset): Will lead the project, manage the high-level dialogue with UNCDF stakeholders, and oversee the blueprint development.
    • Blockchain & Technical Leads (NMKR Studio & Blockia Labs): Our confirmed and long-standing partners will manage all on-chain components.
    • Field Operations Liaison: Will coordinate with the selected Tanzanian agri-tech partner to facilitate pilot onboarding.

• **Validation Plan: **We have a multi-faceted validation plan that goes beyond technical checks. - Technical Validation: Success is the deployment of the pilot, evidenced by on-chain transaction hashes for the 1,000+ FieldNFTs and DID-linking events. - Strategic Validation: The primary success metric is the delivery of the Blueprint document, formally presented to UNCDF for feedback to validate its usefulness for a larger partnership. - Community Validation: The pilot results and blueprint will be shared publicly with the Catalyst community in our close-out report, demonstrating the value generated.

• **Risk Mitigation: ** - Partner Slippage | We will select a local agri-tech partner in M1. Our dependency on UNCDF is for feedback, not direct delivery, which minimizes risk. We will maintain parallel communication to ensure alignment. - Low Farmer Adoption | We are leveraging the established trust and user base of the local partner. The onboarding workflow will be co-designed with them to be mobile-first and culturally appropriate. - Data Quality Issues | Our AI models use multi-year baselines and confidence scores to handle seasonal variance. A human-in-the-loop review process will be implemented for any edge cases identified in the pilot data.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Pilot Design & Partner Alignment (Months 1-2)

Milestone Outputs

Outputs: The primary output is a comprehensive Pilot Design Document. This document will be co-developed with feedback from UNCDF's network and will serve as the master plan for the pilot. It will include: 1) A finalized technical architecture and data schemas for linking FieldNFTs to DIDs in the Tanzanian context. 2) A detailed operational plan defining the farmer onboarding workflow. 3) A stakeholder map confirming the selected pilot region (e.g., Dodoma) and the local agri-tech partner who will facilitate onboarding. 4) A risk and mitigation register for the pilot deployment.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance Criteria: The Pilot Design Document is considered complete when it has been formally shared with UNCDF program leads for feedback, confirming its alignment with the goals of the D4DAT program. The selected local agri-tech partner has formally confirmed their participation and agreed to the roles and responsibilities outlined in the document. The technical specifications within the document are sufficiently detailed to allow for the immediate start of the deployment in Milestone 2.

Evidence of Completion

Evidence of Completion: A public link to the final PDF of the Pilot Design Document will be provided. A redacted copy of the written confirmation (Letter of Intent or formal email agreement) from the selected Tanzanian agri-tech partner will also be provided, confirming their role in the pilot.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

30000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Pilot Deployment & On-Chain Activity (Months 3-4)

Milestone Outputs

Outputs: This milestone covers the full technical deployment of the pilot. Outputs include: 1) The successful minting of approximately 1,000 FieldNFTs on Cardano for the selected farmers. 2) The issuance of ~1,000 DIDs and their on-chain linking to the corresponding FieldNFTs. 3) A functional, private web-based dashboard for stakeholders (DigiFarm, UNCDF, local partner) to view the pilot data, including farmer locations, field boundaries, and key metadata. 4) Training materials for the local partner.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance Criteria: The onboarding target is met when an anonymized database report shows at least 1,000 unique farmers have been successfully registered for the pilot. The on-chain component is accepted when the corresponding NFTs and DID-linking transactions are verifiable on a Cardano block explorer (e.g., CExplorer). The dashboard is deemed functional when it correctly displays the data for the onboarded farmers.

Evidence of Completion

Evidence of Completion: We will provide: 1) A list of transaction hashes for a sample set of the minted FieldNFTs and DID-linking events. 2) A link to the anonymized CSV report confirming the onboarding count. 3) A private Loom video walkthrough of the live pilot dashboard, demonstrating its functionality and the data generated.

Delivery Month

4

Cost

35000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Blueprint Creation & Final Reporting (Months 5-6)

Milestone Outputs

Outputs: The main output is the "Digital Agriculture Blueprint for Tanzania," a strategic document detailing the model for national scaling. It will synthesize learnings from the pilot and include sections on: 1) Technical Architecture for Scale. 2) An Operational Playbook for mass onboarding. 3) A Partnership and Governance Model for a national rollout. 4) A detailed budget and timeline for a potential Fund 15 "Partners" proposal. This milestone also includes the official Project Closeout Report and Video.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance Criteria: The Blueprint is considered complete when it is a professionally designed, comprehensive document that accurately reflects the pilot's outcomes and provides a clear, actionable plan for scaling. It must be formally presented to UNCDF and its D4DAT program stakeholders to validate its usefulness as a foundational document for a future, larger partnership. The Project Closeout Report and Video must be submitted according to all Catalyst guidelines.

Evidence of Completion

Evidence of Completion: We will provide: 1) A public link to the final PDF of the "Digital Agriculture Blueprint." 2) A public link to the submitted Project Closeout Report and a Loom/YouTube link for the Project Closeout Video.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

30000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total Budget: ₳95,000

The budget is strategically allocated to efficiently deliver a high-value blueprint and a live proof-of-concept within a compact 6-month timeframe.

• WP1 - Pilot Design & Partner Alignment (₳25,000): This covers project management and liaison time to finalize the pilot scope, select the local partner, and produce the detailed Pilot Design Document. It includes initial technical workshops with partners to define data schemas and workflows.
• WP2 - Pilot Deployment & On-Chain Activity (₳45,000): This is the largest component, covering the core technical work. It includes costs for running the AI models, blockchain transaction fees for minting 1,000+ assets, DID issuance, and development time for the pilot dashboard. A portion is allocated to support the local partner's operational costs for onboarding farmers.
• WP3 - Blueprint Creation & Final Reporting (₳25,000): This covers the data analysis from the pilot, significant technical writing and design work to produce the high-quality final "Digital Agriculture Blueprint," and the production of the Project Closeout Report and Video.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

This project represents outstanding value for money by using a modest "concept" budget to unlock a multi-million dollar, national-scale opportunity for Cardano.

1. Strategic Entry into a National Program: For only ₳95,000, Cardano gets a seat at the table of a major, UN-supported digital transformation program in Africa (D4DAT). The value of this strategic positioning and the credibility it brings is immense.
2. De-Risking a Future, Larger Investment: This pilot acts as a highly effective de-risking mechanism. It allows us to test the operational model, gather real-world data, and build partner trust before proposing a much larger, multi-hundred-thousand ADA "Partners" proposal in a future fund. This ensures future Treasury funds are deployed with maximum confidence and a proven roadmap.
3. High Leverage on Partner Infrastructure: The budget does not need to cover the expensive work of building a farmer network from scratch. We are leveraging UNCDF's and their local partners' existing infrastructure, meaning the Treasury's funds are targeted exclusively at the technology demonstration and blueprint creation.
4. Creates a Reusable, High-Value Asset: The final "Blueprint" is a key deliverable that has value far beyond this project. It becomes a reusable playbook that Cardano and other ecosystem projects can use to engage with institutional and government partners in other countries, compounding the value of this initial investment.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes