J-Palm in Liberia manufactures natural health and beauty products using palm kernels from wild palm trees, and use blockchain technology for improved traceability.
Liberia’s rural smallholder farming communities lack access to processing machinery and markets for their palm kernels. As a result, they throw away the palm kernels, losing thousands of dollars in potential income. This technology gap has caused these communities to miss out on significant economic development opportunities. With funding from GSMA, J-Palm has developed two mobile blockchain apps (The Treehealth app and Traceability app) to create transparency and traceability in Liberia’s wild harvest palm oil supply chains. This ensures the protection of palm forests while improving incomes and livelihoods for 7,500 palm harvesters, delivering a sustainable, no-deforestation palm product that makes communities more resilient to climate change.
J-Palm is one of the start-ups supported by the GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation, which was launched in 2022. This initiative is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and is supported by the GSMA and its members.
Learn more about the GSMA Innovation Fund here.