SSI for Coffee in East Africa

Build an SSI Tool to quality assess the middlemen on Atala Prism. Make a "Michelin Star" rating to restore purchasing power to the farmers

80 years Coffee Farming experience, Atala Prism Pioneer, Plutus Pioneer, Community Members, Entrepreneurs, Marketer, Community Mobilizer, CAs, VCA, Challenge Team Members, Boostcamp Alumn, Project Management & Ed Tech, Funded Proposers, 20 Years experience in Accounting.

[IMPACT]

The Problem:

• East African Coffee is loved/drank worldwide Coffee grown in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya,
• The system doesn't allow EA Coffee growers to profit EA Coffee growers are poor/disenfranchised 
• EA coffee growers struggle to keep growing supporting the business of older coffee businesses/ mature farms
• Pesticides have affected the health of the coffee farmers.
• Farmers are no longer tilling their land, they are using pesticides which is affecting the health of the farmers/quality of the coffee
• The next Generation has lost interest in coffee
• Hyper local

A Brief History of Coffee in the EAC

In the East African Community (EAC) Coffee has been grown for over a century now (since 1893 when it was first introduced in Kenya by French Roman Catholic Missionaries). The main strains produced are Arabica from Kenya & Tanzania and Robusta from Uganda. (The total area under coffee is estimated at 160,000 hectares, about one third of which is the plantation sector and the rests under small holder sector with an estimated 700,000 growers.)

The total annual production has fluctuated widely due to climate and socio-economic factors.  At the moment, production in Kenya stands at about one million bags per year. Find out more here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/216326

Steps for Production of Coffee:

• Planting the seed
• Harvesting and picking
• Sorting and Selecting
• Pulping the cherries
• Fermenting
• Drying
• Storing
• Milling
• Grading/Cupping
• Distributing
• Roasting
• Packaging
• Grinding
• Brewing
• Drinking

Jackie:

In Uganda, coffee is listed among the dominant traditional cash crops and is one of the principal export crops. In my home area however, coffee farmers are slowly losing their grip because of its diminishing value. There are no co-operatives, each farmer for themselves. The government is not directly involved in creating structures to support the farmer and to buy their produce, farmers are at the mercy of the middlemen. Due to high levels of land fragmentation in the central region of Uganda, many coffee farmers don’t have enough space to spread to drying and to store the coffee, meaning they are somehow forced to sell their coffee in a raw form attracting very little income. 

Farmers are slowly losing interest in coffee to look for alternative means of making money, posing a great threat for the future of coffee. The majority of farmers don’t have any accounting record for their farms. Its almost impossible to track how much was spent on the farm in a season, how much was harvested and how much was realized. It's approached not as a business but a hobby.

Many farmers also adopted spraying of the weed in the coffee farms as an alternative to reduce the weeding farming expenses. This makes the soil more and more acidic and I believe in the process it affects the quality of the coffee. In my community, the primary value of coffee is it’s a cash cow. When this cow becomes cashless, the will, power, and passion fades.

After Coffee is grown (Harvested, Pulped, Fermented, Dried and Stored), People visit the farms, select the best beans, offer a price, take the product and leave with the coffee. They then find markets and sell at a profit. The Beans then get reselected and taken to larger markets. where eventually, big businesses buy big amounts for big money.

An example is: Starbucks uses 100% Arabica coffee beans, sourced from South America, Africa, and Asia as of 2022. Starbucks buys at an Industrial scale: They participate in the commodities market to get quantity. Quantity then allows end users lower prices.

The Solution:

Use Atala PRISM to identify, quality assess, train and rate the middlemen.

As you can see, the state of Coffee in the EAC is complex. It requires a large scale solution for reform. What would be the motivation for middlemen to give farmers a better price?

What is the farmer going to gain from the middleman taking their coffee? We could choose to alienate the initial buyers of the coffee, and produce solutions to egg them out of the system, but the middlemen are an untapped resource. They have knowledge about farmers, quality of coffee, history of coffee in their region and experience.

Cardano Coffee East Africa is a proposal to help everyone win. We are slowly going to empower East Africans (Farmers) to make more money from coffee production. We have a future proposal looking to put the whole production process on the Cardano blockchain. Increasing traceability in the Blockchain. For example Emurgo https://www.emurgo.io/en/blog/emurgo-traceability-solution-for-supply-chain-transparency-and-a-healthy-business-climate and what Cardano's been able to do in Baia's Orchard in Georgia. A Bean to Cup Process increasing value for the next generation to invest. Focusing on regenerative Farming processes by restoring dying farming processes.

We are going to focus on Putting the "middlemen" on the blockchain using Atala PRISM. They can increase their rating/stars by completing courses on the Cardano Blockchain and Coffee Industry in the EAC. Farmers will seek them out (visit the website) and offer their coffee. We are proposing to the "middlemen/Middlepeople" the idea of being chosen by many farmers. This proposal will onboard and train the "middlemen" with future plans to do the same for the farmers. Similar to how Michelin star system gets customers to visit restaurants.

This process will have the effect of Involving SSI community: Data Centres: Bringing in Partnering with stakeholders in the SSI community. Population council, Ministries of Agriculture in Kenya Tanzania and Uganda. 

Stakeholders:

Kenya: Coffee Directorate https://coffee.agricultureauthority.go.ke/ 

Tanzania: MARKUP Tz https://www.eacmarkup.org/products/coffee

Uganda: Coffee Development Authority https://ugandacoffee.go.ug

Engaging with these stakeholders will help position Cardano as one of the leaders in the SSI space in East Africa. This will increase participation and adoption growth of Atala PRISM and Cardano. Making inroads to EAC Governance frameworks and Interoperability.

• The Coffee Industry has been around for a long time, there may be resistance to new processes.
• Limitations to how much information you could get from people already profiting from the current systems
• Systems in the EAC are behind the rest of the world
• Slow Adoption of new Ideas
• Inexperienced Atala Prism Pioneers

[FEASIBILITY]

Plan for Q2 22

Month 1 : Finish Requirements Research, Define system Architecture, Identify the middlemen, Create awareness

Month 2 : Code the SSI Tool Prototype, complete the Website,

Month 3 : Onboard people into the system, Test Launch

Month 4: Train the middlemen, Host event on Introduction to blockchain, How to use the website

Month 5 Expand Capabilities

1 month Atala Prism Pioneers 20000

1 month Web designer 5000

1 month Backend Developer 5000

1 month Senior Developer 5000

1 month Project Management 5000

Project Management 5000

Survey 5000

Legal 5000

Event 5000

Total: 60000 USD

Jackie: Ugandan @Namwanje 80 years of experience in coffee farming, 20 Years experience in Accounting, Community Member, Community Advisor, Entrepreneur, Marketer Community Mobilizer

Angela: Kenyan @AWG Atala Prism Pioneer, Haskell Plutus Lecturer, Eastern Town Hall Team Member, Gimbalabs PPBL Team Member, CA, VCA, Plutus Pioneer, Challenge Team Member, Boostcamp Alumn

Evans: @babaelliot, From Tanzania, Catalyst CA , active participant of general and Eastern Town Hall, BSc Social Protection( IFM/ Institute of finance management ), Trainer/Mentor at RFFXTZ Co Ltd, Youtuber and Content Creator

Anne: Kenyan @Shirogat CA, Microsoft Certified Educator, 30 years Experience in Project Management and Ed Tech, Funded Proposer, Boostcamp Alumn, Entrepreneur

Regina: Tanzanian @reginawills Degree in Accountancy and Finance, ACSI certified by CISS, Operations Manager , Trader in Financial Markets , Trainer at RFFXTZ COMPANY LIMITED on Financial Market and Blockchain Technology , Marketing expert and content creator , active participant of general and Eastern Town Hall

[AUDITABILITY]

Github commits

Orbit system : https://github.com/orbit-love/orbit-model

The Orbit Model is a framework for building high gravity communities. A high gravity community is one that excels at attracting and retaining members by providing an outstanding member experience.

The Orbit Model contains five fundamental concepts: Gravity, Love, Reach, Orbit Levels, and Presence.

• Gravity is the attractive force of a community that acts to retain existing members and attract new ones.
• Love is a member's overall level of engagement and impact in the community.
• Reach is a measure of a community member’s sphere of influence.
• Orbit levels are a practical tool for member segmentation and help you create different programs for different types of community members.
• Presence is a measure of a community member's activity over a period of time.

• Provide Self Sovereign Identity to Africans
• Give Coffee Farmers a form of Purchasing Power (the ability to choose who buys their coffee at what price)
• The onboarding of "Middlemen", Stakeholders and Farmers onto Atala Prism
• Increasing interest in the youth in Blockchain and Coffee Farming
• The training of African Coffee Farmers and "middlemen" in Blockchain Cardano and Atala Prism
• The employment of African Atala Prism Coders
• The restoration of hope to Coffee Industry in the EAC

This is a new proposal

SDG Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG subgoals:

1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day

1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

12.1 Implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries

2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

1.1.1 Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographic location (urban/rural)

2.3.1 Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

2.3.2 Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status

12.1.1 Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production

#proposertoolsdg