Taking in the New Year, I was reflecting on one of the most influential texts that I have read by Martin Luther King – the Christmas Sermon on Peace (1967). After nearly 50 years, his speech seems as relevant as it was then.  Amongst other things, it talks about the fact that all life is interrelated: “…we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny…did you ever think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? ….you go into the bathroom and reach over for a sponge, and that’s handed to you by a Pacific Islander…you drink your coffee in the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American… and before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half of the world”.

In recent years it’s apparent that supply chains, which are often very complex and can cross countries and regions, are no longer just the interest of supply chain departments. Instead, more and more governments, corporates, NGOs and consumers are aware and understand where products come from and its effects on peoples’ livelihoods and the environment.  The challenge is that the complexity of supply chains can be immense and it is often cited that large brands often do not even know who is in their supply chain as it can involve multiple layers of production and trading before the end product reaches the shelves.

We see the potential for mobile to be a new solution to this challenge. Mobile can provide an identity for producers and create a two-way information flow across the value chain. For small-scale farmers in developing countries, traceability requirements can be onerous and represent barriers to trade.  Equipping them, and intermediaries, with the necessary tools and processes is essential to reduce this burden and help them to reap the benefits of being included in a transparent system.

We already have good examples of large buyers and retailers who use mobile technology to help identify their producers and provide agronomy and quality standard information and regular payments to farmers via mobile. In the future, I’m confident that we’ll see even the more complex value chains being linked up via technology and transparency being common practice.

For more practical information on how to use mobile technology to improve traceability – the World Bank, ICT in Agriculture (Module 12: Improving food safety and traceability) has a good outline.

Please let us know if you have good examples of companies using mobile technology to increase transparency in value chains.