Blockchain pioneer Charles Hoskinson’s latest project involves putting the birthplace of coffee on the blockchain.
Hoskinson, who co-founded Ethereum and is at the helm at smart-contract fueled decentralized blockchain startup Cardano, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Science and Technology for ag-tech development on the public ledger.
The arrangement tasks Cardano with exploring ways that the African nation can apply the startup’s blockchain technology to its agri-tech sector. Traders didn’t celebrate Cardano’s ADA coin, which is ranked No. 6 on Coin Market Cap and which was trading lower by 6% at the time of publication.
According to the MOU, the participants will study ways that the blockchain could be used to track coffee along the supply chain or for land registry purposes to cut down on fraud, for instance.
The partnership stands to have a long-term impact, as education is at the core of the arrangement. Hoskinson plans not only to share his ideas but also teach developers how to use Cardano’s blockchain technology on their own.
Cardano Tech’s Impact
Cardano’s vision for the developing world is much bigger than Ethiopia, but Ethiopia is where it all begins. John O’Connor, director of African Operations at IOHK who joined from the Cardano Foundation, detailed in a blog post how education will be paramount to the company’s mission in Africa, saying:
“This year we will offer our first course in Africa, probably in Ethiopia, and expect the first cohort of Ethiopian developers to be contributing to Cardano code by the end of the year.”
Meanwhile, Hoskinson at the London School of Economics earlier this year spoke about Cardano’s goals for the developing world more broadly. He spoke about the problems surrounding land registry where landowners are being kicked off their own property for a lack of adequate record keeping.
Countries like Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana are currently making strides with land registry on the blockchain — a key focus of Cardano and IOHK.
Hoskinson went on to explain that one of the reasons he entered the cryptocurrency space was to “explore what capabilities are required for him to give this tool to people across the world so they can solve their own problems.”
Before heading to Africa, Hoskinson was in Tel Aviv, according to his Twitter feed, where developers from Cardano’s partner company IOHK presented to cryptographers at EuroCrypto 2018.
