Speaking on the collaboration, Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India, said, “Spice farmers are mostly small and marginal farmers. Despite India being the largest consumer and producer of spices, one of the major challenges they face is getting their due share of income owing to the lack of robust monitoring mechanisms that can ensure the quality of spices at every stage of the value chain. We are confident that the blockchain interface will help connect these farmers with international markets and add to their income. The technology can also help in rebuilding pandemic affected supply chains by providing trading partners and consumers with trusted and secured data on goods and transactions.”

D. Sathiyan, Secretary, Spices Board India on this joint initiative, said:​ ​India is the largest exporter, producer and consumer of spices in the world. Spices exports during 2019-20 crossed a milestone of $3 billion. The changing order in the global spices and food sector has increased the relevance of infrastructure development for value addition, certification for quality and food safety, promotion of spices highlighting the immunity-boosting properties, etc and the Board has been tirelessly working towards strengthening the Spices value chain in India. This UNDP-Spices Board joint initiative to build a blockchain-powered traceability interface for Indian spices is another significant milestone in our journey to make the spices value chain efficient, transparent and equitable for all stakeholders. We plan to integrate this blockchain-based traceability interface with the e-spice bazaar portal already developed by the Board.