Gaiachain aims to help companies achieve legal, ethical and deforestation-free supply chains, with a focus on the smallholders that are at the forefront of deforestation and social injustices. GaiaHub, our flagship product, is a free-to-use platform that will help companies achieve zero-deforestation commitments in 2 key ways: 1) increasing access to the data they need to demonstrate progress and assess and mitigate risk; and 2) incentivizing smallholders to invest in sustainable agriculture.

Our revenue model is based on data monetization. Companies with zero-deforestation commitments purchase data digitally linked to a commodity through our marketplace. Revenues are shared between upstream data providers, mainly smallholders, and Gaiachain. This incentive based model will help companies solve the most painful company pain point — adoption of sustainable practices among hundreds or even thousands of smallholders that make up the first mile of their supply chain. By providing an economic incentive to use GaiaHub to provide data, there is also less need for extension agents that are traditionally relied on for data collection.

Built with blockchain infrastructure, revenue from the marketplace will be distributed efficiently and in a transparent manner thus reassuring companies that their payments reach upstream actors as intended. Blockchain-based traceability will also help ensure data integrity. On top of this digital infrastructure, we are capitalizing on our 30+ years experience in forest governance to develop efficient auditing and monitoring protocols that target vulnerable points along the supply chain to ensure data quality and value.

Demand for GaiaHub will increase. Companies have failed to achieve their zero-deforestation commitments, largely due to lack of clear incentives for sustainable agriculture. As pressure mounts for results, so does the demand for innovative solutions. Additionally, there is growing momentum for demand side policies. In April 2020, the EU Commissioned promised mandatory due diligence legislation for more sustainable supply chains. Assuming the legislation is implemented, companies will need to assess and mitigate risk with data. Adopting the GaiaHub now will help companies ensure uninterrupted market access in the future. more