In support of Nigeria’s drive for food security, critical stakeholders under the Nigerian Farmers Group and Cooperative Society (NFGCS) have launched a new blockchain, Agbatoken, aimed at revolutionising agriculture in the country.
On behalf of the stakeholders, the managing director and chief executive officer of NFGCS Ltd, Mr Retson Tedheke, said Agbatoken is tokenisation in agriculture, which combines productivity, effectiveness, security, transparency, and cost savings to improve productivity for agribusiness firms.
Retson said it consists of generating tokens, encrypted records which will represent an asset traded on the blockchain.
At a press conference at NFGCS Farm Estate in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Tedheke further explained that Agbatoken involves representing real-world assets, like crops, livestock, infrastructure and land, as digital tokens on a blockchain.
He said the tokens will be bought, sold, or traded, allowing farmers to raise capital by selling shares of their assets. This provides an innovative financial solution for farmers, enabling them to leverage their assets to obtain funds without losing ownership.
“We are using blockchain technology within the agricultural supply chain. This has become essential with the rising demand for food security, massive investments in food production, transparency in investments in the agricultural supply chain.
“Today, many people are becoming interested in food production because food is life. The world needs food safety, sustainability, a desire to support the local economy, rural infrastructural development and workers’ rights,” he said.
Blockchain technology offers an unprecedented ability to massively produce food and in the process evolve food security and socio stability globally.
Agbadovolution Technologies Limited via Agbatoken is strongly committed to leveraging blockchain for a sustainable food production and global future that is socially stable. “We want to ensure that our stakeholders and clients contribute to saving the world by feeding the world,” he said.
Retson explained that though the current landscape of blockchain in agriculture blockchain technology is still relatively new to the agricultural industry, it is already making great strides.
“The blockchain in the agriculture and food supply chain market size was valued at $285 million in 2022 and is predicted to reach $7.3 billion by the year 2031. This is an astounding growth and for proponents of blockchain technology, it is extremely exciting.
“Remember, asset tokenisation provides inclusive financial capabilities. The connection between food, people and asset tokenization is set to revolutionise agricultural productivity and it will start from Nigeria,” Retson said.
