Verified Credentials for Improved Data Control

Smallholder Farmer Survival in the Digital Age

The convergence of agriculture and technology introduces a new question: Is a farmer's most valuable asset their land, crop production, or data?

Modern farms collect and analyze vast amounts of data using remote sensors, IoT devices, drones, and satellites. While these technologies improve efficiency, productivity, sustainability, and decision-making, this development raises the question of who owns the data.

This issue is particularly relevant for smallholder farmers, as digital transformation comes with a catch: their most valuable information, from soil quality and fertilizer use to water management and harvest yields, is often controlled by others. It leaves them vulnerable and raises concerns about the risk of their valuable data being used and monetized without their knowledge or consent. Therefore, data ownership, privacy, and security are critical issues that must be addressed.

Smallholder farmer survival in the digital age hinges on portable, farmer-owned verified credentials that give them complete control over their data and privacy.

What are portable, farmer-owned, verified credentials?

Without control over their data and verified credentials, smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot easily track their products, demonstrate sustainable practices to potential buyers, access better markets, or leverage their production history to secure fair loans. This data-driven disparity puts them at a disadvantage.

Farmer-owned verifiable credentials are the solution. These digital, reusable proofs about a farmer or their farm are based on a self-sovereign identity (SSI). This may include digital identity verification documents, farm data, such as geolocation, crop and soil data, and other information designed to be easily verified.

The information in an SSI is secure and tamper-proof, allowing users to share their credentials without revealing unnecessary personal data.

Portable, farmer-owned, verifiable credentials can replace inefficient, expensive, and fragmented paper-based systems by streamlining the identity verification process, reducing the time and cost.

A critical feature is interoperability, which is the ability of one system to communicate with another. Generally, verifiable credentials based on open standards can be used across different systems and platforms, facilitating seamless data exchange. They represent a significant step forward in managing decentralized identity and information verification, providing users with greater control over their data while enhancing security and trust in digital interactions.

“We don’t need more data - we need governance and better coordination. When farmers can share verified information once and reuse it across buyers, banks, and regulators, everyone wins. Shared data means shared cost, audited at source, and it finally opens the door for farmers themselves to benefit from the insights that, until now, have been locked away. We don’t need shiny data silos - we need trust.”

Kristian Doolan, Founder, Bridge

How do portable, farmer-owned, verified credentials help farmers?

Farmers must often provide the same information to multiple stakeholders, including buyers, government agencies, banks, and certification bodies. This process is time-consuming and inefficient. With a portable, reusable credential, a farmer can collect and verify their data once and then share it with multiple parties as needed, saving time and administrative overhead.

Some more advantages for farmers:

Increased trust and transparency

Verified credentials are encrypted to ensure that the data is tamper-proof and authentic. This provides a high level of trust for all parties in the supply chain. For example, a consumer or regulator can easily and securely verify claims about a product's origin or sustainability without needing to contact the original issuer or a central database.

Better farmgate prices and more opportunities

Farmgate prices are critical for smallholder farmers. Verified credentials and farm data enhance their ability to negotiate better prices with buyers, secure bank loans, or access new income streams. Being a data owner turns their information from a potential liability into a valuable asset.

Compliance and market access

Verified credentials and traceability provide smallholder farmers a way to prove they are deforestation-free, sustainable, and compliant with regulations. For example, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a major catalyst for change across the entire sector, including farmers, buyers, and enterprises, making these credentials critical for improved access to international markets.

“Data has become valuable and many experts consider BIG DATA to be the next major driver for productivity gains in agriculture.”

EU Code of conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement

Verified farmer-owned credentials are an essential tool to manage and monetize data, giving farmers a secure, private, and efficient way to manage their most valuable resource.

Who benefits from better farm data?

Data collection and analysis can substantially improve productivity, water management, fertilizer use, and sustainability. While large farms in developed countries have typically benefited from these advances, the costs of this technology act as barriers to entry for smallholder farmers.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “smallholder farmers produce around a third of the world's food” and “five of every six farms in the world consist of less than two hectares.” Most of these farms are located in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), making affordable technology crucial.

A decentralized identity and verifiable credentials address critical challenges in the modern agricultural system, starting with data ownership and privacy. Farmer-owned credentials ensure they decide who can access the data and for what purpose.

This benefits farmers, buyers, and consumers by improving the traceability and verification of the agricultural supply chain. Traceable supply chains reward first-mile producers, and farmer-owned data can potentially increase farmers' return on investment (ROI), including premium pricing, faster payment cycles, and lower audit costs.

“When smallholder farmers realize tangible benefits from controlling their data and establishing verifiable digital identities, they are more likely to encourage others to adopt this technology. This creates a ripple effect that can dramatically improve living standards throughout entire communities and secure their survival in the digital age.”

Salla Mankinen, CEO, Orijin

Mobile devices in low- and middle-income countries

Increased mobile ownership, crucial for this technology, is powering a portable opportunity for smallholder farmers. GSMA reports high usage rates in Southeast Asia (over 85%), India (over 75%), South America (over 90%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (over 45%), positioning smallholders to implement portable, verifiable credentials.

In Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and East Asia, it is estimated that “smallholder-dominated systems are home to more than 380 million farming households, make up roughly 30% of the agricultural land and produce more than 70% of the food calories produced in these regions, and are responsible for more than half of the food calories produced globally, as well as more than half of global production of several major food crops.”

How portable, farmer-owned, verified credentials work

Portable: Credentials and data are stored and carried on a mobile device.

Farmer-owned: Farmers hold their credentials and data in a digital wallet and decide what information to share and with whom. This ensures data sovereignty and privacy, builds trust, and opens the door to new markets and opportunities.

Verifiable: The W3C verifiable credentials data model sets standards for data integrity and authenticity, leveraging digital signatures and cryptographic proofs, to ensure integrity and authenticity. Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) from a trusted issuer establish a digital, tamper-proof system of trust, eliminating the need to contact the original issuer each time, and ensuring the farmer controls their identity data without relying on centralized authorities. They are globally unique and can be used to establish trust in digital interactions.

While verifiable credentials are technology-agnostic, their decentralized trust model often relies on a shared ledger or blockchain to manage the decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and solidify the system's tamper-proof nature.

Source: Decentralized Identity

“The adoption of digital tools is closely linked to the handling of data, which makes privacy an important factor.”

Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Open-source platforms supporting smallholder farmers

Open-source platforms are becoming increasingly common as various NGOs and agencies acknowledge the importance of supporting smallholder farmers. This type of software is often auditable, customizable by local developers, and prevents vendor lock-in, promoting farmer control and long-term sustainability.

Examples of open-source platforms supporting verifiable, farmer-owned credentials:

AgStack

A digital infrastructure project hosted under the Linux Foundation creates, maintains, and enhances a free, reusable, open, and specialized digital operating system for agricultural data and applications.

INAtrace

Free, publicly accessible code that allows farmers, cooperatives, or NGOs to download and modify the software so smallholder farmers can create and own a verifiable digital profile for their farm and its products.

DIVINE Project / CredSSI

A European initiative developing a digital wallet for secure user credential management, ensuring users have control over their information. Using blockchain-based traceability, they can access resources across various agricultural services based on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and verifiable credentials in the agri-food sector.

OpenAgri

Open-source, reusable, and standards-compliant software for digitizing agricultural practices with centralized authentication for secure and seamless data exchange, under the guidance of AgStack/Linux Foundation.

AgriOS

A subscription-free digital platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives in Africa using AgStack’s asset registry and unique anonymous geo-IDs. It provides traceability, compliance with EU regulations, and improved supply chain management.

farmOS

Free, open-source farm management application for planning and record-keeping provides a standard agricultural data collection platform and the foundational data required to issue verifiable credentials.

Open-source software enables the community to collaborate, develop shared interfaces, and prioritize integration with other tools to prevent fragmentation, ensuring the system functions as intended, enhancing security and trust in the credentials issued.

These models promote interoperability by providing open access to source code, standards, and protocols, allowing developers to examine, understand, and adapt different systems to ensure compatibility. Many open-source projects adopt standards such as HTTP, JSON, or SQL, which are publicly available guidelines designed to enhance interoperability among technologies.

While open-source code doesn't guarantee interoperability, it provides the foundation for different systems to communicate with each other. Interoperability benefits smallholder farmers by reducing their reliance on a single platform, allowing them to share verified credentials and data with a broader audience.

NGOs and non-profit initiatives supporting digital identity

These non-governmental organizations and non-profit initiatives lead major initiatives that give farmers ownership and control over their data and create a reusable digital profile.

Bridge is a neutral NGO that provides a digital trust layer built on open standards like W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs). Its identity system lets smallholders prove facts, such as farm polygons, training, and audits, once, and then reuse those proofs across multiple buyers, schemes, and regulators. It is designed to be offline-first and SMS-compatible, with a focus on farmer-centric governance to ensure that the data remains with the farmer.

The Digital Integration of Agricultural Supply Chains Alliance (DIASCA) promotes interoperability in global agricultural supply chains, focusing on common standards for data exchange so that different traceability systems can talk to each other, share data efficiently, and prevent duplication of effort.

Open Food Network (OFN) is a non-profit with an open-source e-commerce platform for local and transparent food systems, enabling secure information exchange while upholding data sovereignty.

The World Bank’s ID4D (Identification for Development) helps establish inclusive, secure foundational digital ID systems for vulnerable people globally, enabling access to finance, social protection, and services. The interoperable systems align with W3C Verifiable Credentials (VC) standards, allowing individuals to control their own reusable credentials and create a robust digital trust layer.

Grameen Foundation develops digital platforms and mobile technology to register farmers, track their skills/practices, and build an economic identity, helping farmers access services, certifications, and financing.

Enterprise digital identity and traceability solutions

The regulatory environment is changing, and pending the introduction of EUDR, in parallel with existing policies, smallholder farmers will be required to provide more proof to access the EU market. The result is an increase in enterprise software solutions that geolocate plots, track and verify supply chains, support verifiable digital identities, and facilitate payment verification, which can be used to prove regulatory compliance and sustainable sourcing.

Here are some examples:

KoltiTrace, by Koltiva, links farm-level data to individual farmers, creating a verifiable digital identity that can be used to prove sustainable sourcing and access services like microloans via their KoltiPay e-wallet.

Orijin builds plot-level digital records by collecting GPS polygons, surveys, and production data to create a verifiable identity. The data automatically generates compliance reports and risk scores, linking the farmer's verified identity to premium markets.

Indicio stores tamper-proof, verifiable credentials on a mobile device, removing the risk of data breaches. Farmers can share their information using a QR code and verify each step in the supply chain.

TraceX provides a mobile digital identity to create accurate, digital farm profiles, helping farmers establish a credible digital footprint that can be used to secure financing from lenders and microfinance institutions.

Farmonaut is a blockchain-based digital ID that traces each step of a product's journey, creating a trustworthy economic identity that helps reduce fraud, making it easier for farmers to access crop loans and insurance.

Enterprise solutions often involve subscription fees, and their implementation usually requires training and digital intelligence. This makes these solutions inaccessible for most farmers and small cooperatives. However, new models are emerging that provide the technology free of charge to smallholder farmers and collectives.

A new model for smallholder farmers

New models are emerging that allow smallholder farmers to capture, verify, and control their data at no cost. For example, the ECOSHIFT model is a social impact solution that combines Orijin’s enterprise software solution with training and expert guidance to help smallholders improve quality and yields.

Active in Thailand’s cacao sector, ECOSHIFT geolocates farm polygons, provides QR code batch traceability for end-to-end supply chain verification, and proof of payment that enables digital identities.

It launched the Kingdom’s first fully traceable chocolate, SustainaBar. Simply scan the QR code and follow the supply chain from farm to final product.

The result is higher farmgate prices.

As chocolatiers, buyers, and conscious consumers increasingly value transparency, traceability, and verification, they are willing to pay premium prices, thereby improving living standards and livelihoods for smallholder farmers.

“Our partnerships with smallholder farms across Thailand’s cacao sector are showing that technology can be a tool for empowerment, not control. By helping farmers verify the origin of their beans, track payments, and showcase the story behind each batch, traceability becomes a driver of both transparency and value.

Through ECOSHIFT, we’re not only improving quality and farmgate prices — we’re also creating circular models like upcycling cocoa husks into KOH KOA herbal tea, giving farmers new income streams and consumers a direct connection to ethical, regenerative agriculture.”

Linda Chevrier, Founder, ECOSHIFT

Securing Survival and Prosperity

Digital transformation in agriculture has made data a valuable asset for smallholder farmers, but this is only true if they own that data. Bridging the digital divide with farmer-owned verifiable credentials offers a practical solution to this structural inequality. Eliminating intermediaries and technology vendors who typically control the valuable information generated on their farms provides tangible benefits for farmers.

Data sovereignty helps farmers turn their production history into a secure and monetizable asset. A verifiable ledger proving location, ethical sourcing, and sustainability results in higher farmgate prices.

A digital record of harvests and verified payments builds a trustworthy credit history, opening access to bank loans, microfinance, and insurance. Inclusion in formal financial systems can secure survival and prosperity.

Global trade regulations mean verifiable credentials are crucial for market access. Farmers can use a single, reusable credential to prove compliance with multiple international standards, significantly reducing audit fatigue and the cost of repetitive, time-consuming verification. This can help millions of smallholders participate in the high-value global supply chains that demand end-to-end traceability.

The convergence of recognized standards and mobile-first technology builds a trusted ecosystem, ensuring farmers are no longer passive data subjects but active data controllers.

The shift to farmer-owned credentials secures the smallholder's place in the future of food. It ensures that the millions of families are paid fairly, treated transparently, and are given the tools they need to achieve genuine prosperity and long-term survival in the digital age.