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Integrating farmers into e-tailing platforms (e.g., JD.com) is a common poverty alleviation strategy, but challenges remain in ensuring reliable product information and building consumer trust. This study explores how blockchain technology can address these issues by analyzing strategic adoption decisions within a supply chain comprising a smallholder farmer, a modern farmer, and an e-tailer. Using a game-theoretic model, we examine five scenarios involving different levels of blockchain participation. The results show that blockchain adoption initiated by e-tailers boosts demand and can benefit all stakeholders. However, a Prisoner’s Dilemma emerges between the farmers, potentially leading to suboptimal outcomes. Importantly, coordinated adoption mitigates this dilemma by reducing inequality and improving both farmer income and overall social welfare. These findings offer insights for platform managers on promoting inclusive and effective blockchain adoption for rural development.
Lu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.