Trust Chain Presentation

1. What need or challenge is Trust Chain addressing in Malawian local context?

• Trust Chain addresses land ownership insecurity and lack of formal identification for women and children in Malawi.
• Women make up 70% of the agricultural workforce but often lack secure land ownership rights, making them vulnerable to dispossession, especially after the death of a spouse.
• Approximately 40% of Malawian children lack birth certificates, hindering their access to education, healthcare, and legal protection.
• By digitalizing land deeds and child identification records, Trust Chain ensures tamper-proof, verifiable documentation, enabling women and children to access essential services and rights.
• Trust Chain's use of blockchain technology promotes transparency and builds trust, contributing to the achievement of Gender Equality, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 5 and 16).

2. Describe the Trust Chain and how it is solving the challenges you described above.

Trust Chain is a blockchain-based platform designed to solve land ownership insecurity and the lack of formal identification for women and children in Malawi. It leverages blockchain's immutable and transparent nature to digitize land deeds and child identification records, ensuring tamper-proof and easily verifiable documentation.

Women, who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, often lack secure land rights. Trust Chain digitalizes land ownership records, providing women with legal assurance and protection. This helps empower them, improving their economic independence and achieving gender equity (SDG 5).

For children, many lack birth certificates, which restricts their access to education, healthcare, and legal protections. Trust Chain stores and validates child identification records securely, enabling access via mobile technologies like USSD or SMS. This inclusivity meets SDG 16 by fostering identity security.

Additionally, Trust Chain integrates with government databases, creating a collaborative ecosystem for record management and helping build trust in Malawi’s digital systems.

3. How Trust Chain is using Blockchain?

Trust Chain uses blockchain technology to create a secure, transparent, and tamper-proof system for managing critical documents such as land deeds and child identification records. By recording these documents on a decentralized ledger, it ensures data integrity and eliminates risks of unauthorized modifications.

The blockchain ensures that land ownership and identification records are immutable, with each transaction cryptographically secured and time-stamped. This addresses fraudulent land claims and helps secure identity documents for women and children.

Furthermore, Trust Chain integrates with government systems, supports open-source development, and fosters trust in digital systems across Malawi.

4. Describe the results of Trust Chain initial testing and prototyping

• The pilot registered 50 title deeds and ensured secure documentation for women and children.
• 97% of participants successfully used the web application, demonstrating ease of use.
• The testing revealed that over 70% of women were unaware of their land rights, prompting the consideration of land rights notifications and SMS alerts for future versions.
• Women reported increased confidence in their land ownership due to blockchain-backed security.
• Local administrators praised the system's efficiency compared to traditional paper-based processes.
• These results validate Trust Chain’s potential and provide insights for broader adoption and scaling.

5. Trust Chain's Targets/Milestones for the Next 12 Months

• Phase 1: System development, open-source release, pilot in a rural district, and community engagement.
• Phase 2: Scale to six districts, add mobile accessibility, language support, and launch programs for women and children.
• Launch a digital trust fund and integrate with national ID systems and explore cross-border blockchain interoperability.
• Impact evaluation with a goal of 50% of rural women having verified title deeds.

6. Trust Chain Key Partners and Advisors