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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Palm oil traceability : blockchain meets supply chain

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

There is a current lack of visibility in the transfer of goods from farmers to oil mills, to manufacturers, to retail outlets and finally to the consumer in the palm oil industry. While leading brands have pledged to commit to a 100% sustainable certification, only 19% of global palm oil production is certified as sustainable. Emerging technologies, such as blockchain, a distributed ledger, can transform supply chain traceability as we know it and bring more transparency through the value chain, creating value to stakeholders. From a process perspective, the proposed solution leverages the mass balance, and book and claim traceability models that RSPO has defined. From a technology perspective, the proposed solution leverages blockchain, geospatial imagery classification, and IoT technologies to keep track of the flow of physical goods and sustainable palm oil certificates. From a people perspective, the proposed solution includes a set of incentive models that could be utilized in easing change management efforts.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supply Chain Management Program.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Hirbli, Toufic
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Simon Johnson and Alexis H. Bateman.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117800
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/117800

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Hirbli, Toufic. Palm oil traceability : blockchain meets supply chain. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117800