Communities in disaster-prone Kenya have been heavily lacking cash, let alone keeping track of who owes what, to pay for each other’s useful skills and produce. Now a new project is working on a technology-based solution, with blockchain-backed “local currencies”, just like the well-known Bitcoin.
The Red Cross societies of Norway, Denmark and Kenya have launched the two-year project to help enhance trading and economic activity by improving their current disaster-related aid system – where they distribute one billion dollars a year in cash and vouchers.
Using simple mobile phones, slumdwellers and rural villagers can create their own automated credit and savings system using blockchain. This opens up a new way to get paid, allowing the villagers to earn credits with more transparency, which they can then spend on local goods and services.
