Each jar of honey holds a story. A project involving RedCLARA, the regional research and education network for Latin America, applies blockchain technology for tracking the journey of a jar of honey from hive to consumer. Thereby producers can demonstrate sustainability and other relevant features of their honey.
The initiative, which is named Colmena DAO, operates in rural areas of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The project was chosen for a blockchain testbed made available to Latin American initiatives through a program driven by RedCLARA and LNET, which is a nonprofit orchestrator of blockchain infrastructure for Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Caring for bees and natural resources ensures the quality of honey. If bees disappear, many things important to people also disappear. That’s why traceability is essential: it shows both the product and the beekeeper’s work,” says Laureano Carlosama, manager of a beekeeping company in Ecuador with extensive experience supplying honey to multinational companies, with whom the blockchain-based solutions were developed.
Traditional certifications are often slow
Currently, there is no standard mechanism for producers to reliably demonstrate that their hives and honey come from sustainable practices and responsible resources. This limits access to sustainable markets, reduces transparency with authorities and buyers, and exposes small producers to fraud and loss of value. Traditional certifications are often slow, costly, and centralized, making them inaccessible to most.
In 2022, researchers and beekeepers trained in sustainable practices in Ecuador initiated efforts to developed technical solutions that would improve traceability.
The initiative was led by Phillippe Boland, a regenerative designer with experience in coordination of international networks across institutions in Latin America, and José Zárate, a technology intelligence specialist from Peru and co-founder of Stamping.io – a platform using blockchain technology for document verification. Later, the initiative was joined by other partners in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, and became the broader Colmena DAO project.
Admitted to program for early adopters
Colmena DAO combines digital tools with community participation to track honey production, organize decision-making democratically, and economically empower women and youth in rural communities.
The project applied for participation in the Early Adopters LATAM (Latin America) program driven by RedCLARA and LNET and was chosen as one of four projects to obtain time at the BELLA II blockchain testbed.
The project now has its first prototype ready and is moving toward territorial pilots, connected hives, monitoring systems, and income models based on pollination and the local bioeconomy.
“Blockchain has shown that emerging technology testbed services, deployed through the BELLA II project, can help us tackle real challenges in the region, generate value in Latin America, and impact people’s lives,” says Julian Londoño, services analyst at RedCLARA.
The text is inspired by the article “Honey in the Chain: Blockchain for beekeeping” by Jenny Flores at the RedCLARA website.
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