Cloud/edge computing for compliance in the Brazilian livestock supply chain

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Mar 20:761:143276. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143276. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Abstract

Brazil is an important player in the global agribusiness markets, in which grain and beef make up the majority of exports. Barriers to access more valuable sustainable markets emerge from the lack of adequate compliance in supply chains. Here is depicted a mobile application based on cloud/edge computing for the livestock supply chain to circumvent that limitation. The application, called BovChain, is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connecting landowners and slaughterhouses. The objective of the application is twofold. Firstly, it maximizes sustainable business by reducing transaction costs and by strengthening ties between state-authorized stakeholders. Secondly, it creates metadata useful for digital certification by exploiting CMOS and GPS sensor technologies embedded in low-cost smartphones. Successful declarative transactions in the digital space are recorded as metadata, and the corresponding big data might be valuable for the certification of livestock origin and traceability for sustainability compliance in 'glocal' beef markets.

Keywords: Big data; Certification; Food security; Sustainable markets; Traceability.