Buddika Lakmal Priyadarshana
Sri Lanka Agri-Blockchain: A Blueprint for Agricultural Transformation
Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector is in crisis, not due to lack of effort, but due to lack of data. For decades, decisions on farming, subsidies, and markets lacked real-time, field-level insight leading to inefficiencies, poor pricing, and missed exports. Without a trustworthy system to track what’s grown, where, and by whom, we've been flying blind.
That’s why we propose the Sri Lanka Agri-Blockchain platform: a national data exchange using blockchain to restore transparency, traceability, and trust in agriculture. This is more than tech it’s a chance to empower farmers, protect subsidies, attract investment, and enable data-driven decisions.
The initiative aims to build a decentralized, secure infrastructure recording land, production, finance, and trade data. This supports fairer markets, traceable supply chains, smart contract-based loans and insurance, and better-targeted subsidies. Farmers can access real-time prices, build digital credit histories, and connect directly with buyers, while exporters benefit from certification and traceability. Smart contracts automate payments and claims based on verified data like weather conditions.
Critically, it leverages Sri Lanka’s public officers Grama Niladharis, Samurdhi Officers, Agricultural Research Assistants, and Development Officers as key agents for data collection, farmer onboarding, and digital literacy.
This proposal has a lot going for it Sri Lanka already has strong digital policies in place, most people use mobile phones, and there’s a solid network of local officials who can help on the ground. Of course, there are still some hurdles, like spotty internet in rural areas, low digital know-how among farmers, and unclear rules around using blockchain. But the potential is huge we could boost exports, reduce wastage and corruption, and get support from international donors. That said, we’ll need to navigate some risks, like delays in government approvals, pushback from middlemen, and the upfront costs of getting everything up and running.
We propose piloting in Polonnaruwa and Hambantota, followed by national rollout and integration with finance and export systems. Broad stakeholder engagement farmers, Government agencies, banks, tech firms, exporters, regulators, and donors will be key. With the right design and collaboration, this kind initiatives can modernize agriculture, uplift livelihoods, and build a data-driven farming economy.
11 Décembre 2025 à 06h21
Voir sur LinkedIn →
