Blockchain and healthier school meals: Novel tracking system to be trialed by UN in Tunisia 

12 Apr 2018 --- Devery.io, a start-up focused on supply chain tracking, has signed with the Tunisian Ministry of Education to implement a blockchain-based tracking system for its school meals program.

The Tunisian government operates a school meal program designed to offer one fresh meal a day to underprivileged students in its primary and secondary educational system. In seeking to improve the system and to track the quality of the meals provided, the Ministry of Education is now exploring the utilization of blockchain-based tracking.

The implementation will involve an initial roll out to a scheme to feed 1,500 primary school kids, with the goal of ultimately rolling out to the scheme to all 400,000 Tunisian school children currently receiving food assistance once successfully trialed.
 
The meal program currently serves approximately 6,000 schools. In recognizing the importance of nutrition as part of a broader goal to ensure and improve educational achievements, the Ministry of Education’s program is aimed to ensure that children from underprivileged backgrounds meet their nutritional requirements.
 
The program is currently managed by the United Nation’s World Food Program to ensure that the program is implemented appropriately and the schools have adequate supply of meals for the students that require them. In achieving these goals, the ability to track the delivery of the meals as well as possible aspects on best utilization of funds are key measures of success for the program.
 
"This project is allowing us to explore how supporting innovation, through the introduction of solutions based on blockchain technology, can contribute to strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the Tunisian national school meals program,” said Maria Lukyanova, the United Nations World Food Program Representative and Head of Country Office for the Republic of Tunisia.
 
Devery.io will provide the technical advisory and development capability to build, train and utilize a transparent and more accountable system of tracking the meal deliveries as well as reporting issues direct to the Ministry in real time. Further, Devery will train personnel on the ground to utilize and maintain the technology for the foreseeable future. Devery provides software that abstracts the difficulties of blockchain development by providing easy-to-use tools and applications to clients.
 
“Blockchain technology has the potential to impact billions of people through bridging the gap between the physical and digital world. Ensuring the safe delivery of the food to children via blockchain technology is a cause we truly believe will impact the lives of many to come,” says Andrew Rasheed, founder and CEO of Devery.io.
 
The World Food Program expects to use the technology developed for this program to assist with the delivery of food in other missions around the world.

The growing significance of blockchain in food product development was discussed in depth in a recent report featured in our sister publication FoodIngredientsFirst.