Dong Nai province, Vietnam implements TE-FOOD’s Epidemic Control module
Pork is traditionally the most popular meat in Eastern Asia. With 2.5 million pigs, Dong Nai is the most important swine breeding province in Vietnam.
The government of Dong Nai decided to implement TE-FOOD’s blockchain based traceability and livestock management system with the integrated epidemic control module to control the most dangerous viral disease outbreak, the African Swine Fever (ASF).
TE-FOOD Charity Program
We believe that there are still a lot of areas, where technology (and blockchain technology) can improve our lives. We are living in a time when scientists are researching modifications in our genome, when enterprises are planning to monetize space travel, and when governments prepare regulations for the inevitable spread of autonomous cars, or even cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, there are huge information gaps overall in the food industry, especially in agriculture. The lack of information becomes devastating during epidemic outbreaks. Human lives as well as the livelihood of millions of farmers depend on fast and accurate information flow.
Companies like us, which develop modern technologies should reach out to the ones in need of it, and provide solutions for chronic social problems. And — when the situation requires ,— they should do it as charity, for the greater good, to improve the lives of millions.
This is what our goal with the TE-FOOD Charity Program, which arrived to its first implementation.
The tragic consequences of ASF
Mr. Vu’s family has been in the pig farming industry for decades in Hung Yen province, Vietnam.
One day, he noticed that two pigs of his 33 pig herd became sick, and stopped eating. After the analysis results showed positive for ASF, all pigs on the farm were culled.
Two weeks later, the symptoms appeared on his other farm, where he was raising 59 pigs.
Within the period of one month, he lost all his pigs.
Another farmer, Vu Van Dat also lost all his pigs — his family inheritance — due to the disease.
In the morning on 17th of February, he fed the pigs as usual, but some of the pigs did not eat and lied down.
Everything happened quickly. He woke up next day morning to see 19 of his pigs died. He notified the local government, and the analysis justified the presence of ASF virus.
As a result, all his pigs were culled.
“Just a couple of days ago, the pigs were healthy, eating normally. In one moment, the pigs died, everything is gone…”
The despair of these farmers is understandable.
African Swine Fever virus has nearly 100% death rate, it kills pigs usually within a week, and the paths of its spread are so complex that it seems unstoppable. As there is no vaccine against it, the main emphasis can be focused on the prevention, monitoring, and control of the epidemic.
How TE-FOOD helps
All pig farms in Dong Nai province will have to registrate in TE-FOOD’s mobile app, and provide regular reports about their livestock’s status. They can report suspected illnesses, and the veterinary authority can send professionals to assess the reports. If an outbreak is confirmed, the authority can order culling of the livestock.
The registered cases can be used for governmental compensation of the farmers, which is a major motivation for them.
Controlling and monitoring the movement of animals is crucial during an epidemic. Animal transports will be required to be registered, and state veterinaries will issue electronic passports for the transports, identified by a QR code, which makes enforcement easy at roadside checkpoints.
The authority will disseminate information materials through the app to farmers about recognizing the symptoms of ASF, and practical knowledge about defense preparations.
The system makes all epidemic related communications amongst farmers, authorities and state veterinaries quicker, and the information is collected in a structure which can provide additional insights for the authorities to be up-to-date with the status of the farms, and the spread of the disease.
Progress
While the implementation of a system which is used by thousands of stakeholders usually takes several months, the imminent danger of the epidemic requires fast action. This controversy requires enormous efforts from all participants of the project.
Trainings for the first 350 farmers, state veterinaries, government, statistics office, and market control representatives were held recently. And the first registrations started to flow in.
We are excited to participate in a project with noble goals, and with government bodies which are aware of the risks and difficulties, but are determined to manage the situation.
As ASF is a global threat, such solution can provide help for the authorities in several countries.
TE-FOOD is the world’s largest publicly accessible, farm-to-table food traceability solution. Started in 2016, it serves 6000+ business customers, and handles 400,000 business transactions each day.
Website: www.te-food.com
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