SMARTEK TRACEABILITY
A trusted-third-party platform for agricultural value chains.
Smartek registers producers, geolocates orchards and traces every lot, so a value chain can prove where its produce comes from and how it was treated.
The problem
Without traceability, Mali’s mango cannot enter Europe.
European Union plant-health Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 requires mangoes exported to the EU to have undergone an effective treatment that guarantees freedom from fruit flies. That treatment must be stated on the phytosanitary certificate.
Traceability therefore becomes indispensable, and it starts with identifying the orchard. Yet statistics on the value chain are scarce: informal sales, estimated and unrecorded, account for more than 87% of gross production.
- Proof of fruit-fly treatment
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Continuous surveillance
The parties and the mandate
Who we work with
Smartek acts as a neutral entity that runs one technical solution for the whole value chain.
European UnionRequirement for fruit-fly treatment, stated on the phytosanitary certificate
OPVOffice de Protection des Végétaux: checkpoints for phytosanitary inspection
COLEACPSelf-inspection guide for Malian mangoOrchard census for IFM
The terms of reference of February 2020 entrust Smartek with the mango orchard census: to identify, register, geolocate and measure the areas farmed, in order to map the orchards and the production basins.
Phytosanitary inspection with DNA, OPV and COLEACP
Smartek contributed to the self-inspection guide for Malian mango, setting the compliance checkpoints for phytosanitary inspection with DNA, OPV and COLEACP. The model covers inspections and the securing of the certificate.
The process
From orchard to certificate, in four steps
Where is it?
Premises identification: every producer, orchard and site that handles the produce gets a unique identifier and a GPS position.
What is it?
Product identification: each harvested lot is identified, with its orchard, village, field agent and harvest date.
Where did it move?
Movement tracking: packing, crate, pallet and shipper are recorded at the critical points, so the journey can be reconstructed.
Is it compliant?
Inspection on a digital form, geolocated and locked; certificate verifiable by QR code by any inspector or border officer.
What Smartek delivers
- Collection methods and tools, data-entry forms and checklists
- Collection software and the directory database of orchards and producers
- Mobile devices for field collection
- Team of enumerators recruited and trained
- Identification, geolocation and area measurement of orchards
- Compilation, hosting, storage and backup of the data
- Mapping interface, with filters by data type and category
- Data kept available for twenty-four months after collection
- User manual, administrator guide and user training
Source: "Orchard mapping" terms of reference, February 2020.
The platform
Functions available to a value chain
Member registration, contributions, statistics, and a secure, tamper-proof digital register: one platform serves the whole chain.
| Function | Description | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Farmer registration | Farmer data, GPS coordinates of fields and crops | Census, mapping of actors, basis for a land register |
| Questionnaires | Survey management | Analysis of needs and practices; crop progress |
| Price information | Central fixed prices or free field prices, with history | Applies central prices or tracks market variations |
| Sales of produce | All methods: farm gate, counter, barter | Transactions and stock movements; productivity by person or group |
| Traceability and certification | Every stage of production, sale and transfer | Control of goods in transit; supports certification |
| Advance payment | Farmer is paid before delivery | Secured transactions; protected income; producer loyalty |
| Logistics and transport | Real-time storage and logistics | Predictable flows to processing; fewer losses |
| Quality indicators | Quality tracked per producer and per lot | Better sale prices |
Results and next steps
A model in place for mango, offered to other value chains.
The trusted-third-party model is in place with IFM for data organisation and mapping, and with the Direction Nationale de l’Agriculture for phytosanitary inspections.
[TO CONFIRM: number of producers and orchards registered, area mapped]
Next value chains
The model delivered for mango is offered to shea and livestock fattening. The same register can support certification of origin, payments to farmers and the securing of land rights.
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