CNH2-S: Sustainable field-to-market supply chains enabled by blockchain networks

该项目寻求通过在食品供应链中建立消费者和农民之间更直接的渠道，实现更可持续的食品和能源系统。消费者越来越有兴趣支持可持续和环境友好的食品和能源生产做法。如果他们能够确保实现可持续发展目标，他们将考虑为有助于清洁空气、水和自然环境的产品支付更高的价格。农民和供应商也对改善田地到市场的供应链感兴趣。信息技术和计算系统的进步可以让农民和供应商以消费者可以激励的方式跟踪他们的做法。区块链网络是一种安全存储和共享记录的计算方法，可以填补这一角色。然而，我们对区块链如何工作以提高消费者对可持续产品的认识，激励农民参与可持续实践，并导致一个具有长期环境效益的动态系统的科学理解是有限的。该项目将评估区块链网络将农民与消费者连接起来的可行性，从而增加提高可持续性的农业实践。这项研究的更广泛影响将包括为农业和其他行业的区块链网络设计和原型开发基本机制和指标。将开发课程材料，教育K-12教师和代表不足的少数族裔学生区块链网络的工程方面，以更好地为他们未来的技术进步做好准备。此外，这些材料将被纳入生态系统中的人流域集成(PEWI)模型，用于K-12课堂。该项目将开发一个区块链网络框架，在田地到市场的供应链中将农民、供应商和消费者连接起来。该框架从经济成本、可访问性、能源使用和信息效率方面研究最佳区块链网络设计。将考虑的一些因素包括网络结构、信息存储介质和交易模式。最优设计还将考虑到消费者和农民的接受程度，以鼓励广泛参与。驱动假设是，当激励可以直接追溯到原始供应商时，消费者将愿意为产品支付更高的价格。这些发现可能导致开发市场驱动的激励系统的新方法，使消费者能够支持可持续实践。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project seeks to enable more sustainable food and energy systems by creating more direct channels between consumers and farmers across food supply chains. Consumers have growing interest in supporting sustainable and environmentally friendly food and energy production practices. They will consider paying more for products that contribute towards cleaner air, water, and natural environments if they can be assured sustainability goals are being met. Farmers and suppliers are also interested in improving field-to-market supply chains. Advances in information technology and computational systems could allow farmers and suppliers to keep track of their practices in ways that consumers can incentivize. Blockchain networks are a computational approach to securely storing and sharing records that could fill this role. However, our scientific understanding of how blockchains could work to increase consumer awareness of sustainable products, incentivize farmer participation in sustainable practices, and lead to a dynamic system with long-term environmental benefits is limited. This project will evaluate the feasibility of blockchain networks to connect farmers to consumers and thereby increase agricultural practices that improve sustainability. Broader impacts from this study will include the development of fundamental mechanisms and metrics for the design and prototype of blockchain networks in agricultural and other industries. Curricular materials will be developed to educate K-12 teachers and underrepresented minority students on the engineering aspects of blockchain networks to better prepare them for future technological advances. Additionally, these materials will be incorporated into the People in Ecosystems Watershed Integration (PEWI) model for use in K-12 classrooms.The project will develop a framework for blockchain networks that connects farmers and suppliers to consumers in a field-to-market supply chain. The framework investigates optimal blockchain network designs in terms of economic cost, accessibility, energy use, and information efficiency. Some of the factors that will be considered include the network structure, the information storage medium, and the transaction model. The optimal design will also account for consumer and farmer acceptance to encourage broad participation. The driving hypothesis is that consumers will be willing to pay higher prices for products when the incentive can be traced directly to the original supplier. The findings could lead to novel approaches for developing market-driven incentive systems that empower consumers to support sustainable practices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.