Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Transparency: Enhancing Traceability and Scope-3 Carbon Accounting in Agricultural SME Exports

Accurate Scope-3 greenhouse gas accounting across upstream agricultural supply chains remains a primary bottleneck for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exporters. This study examines how blockchain-enabled distributed ledger technology (DLT), combined with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and an extended green enterprise risk management (ERM) framework, enhances supply chain transparency, fair-trade compliance, and Scope-3 carbon accounting precision among agricultural SME exporters. Using a mixed-methods PLS-SEM framework with primary survey data from 520 agricultural SME exporters across Southeast Asia and Europe in 2026, complemented by a calibrated synthetic dataset generated for robustness testing, we demonstrate that blockchain adoption increases Scope-3 carbon accounting accuracy to 94.8% while reducing annual third-party verification costs by 66.5%. Hypothesis testing confirms that immutable traceability significantly elevates buyer trust (β = 0.512, p < 0.001) and supports an average export price premium capture of 14.2% in European import markets. Cross-validation of the measurement model in SmartPLS 4, SPSS 29, R (lavaan), and JASP confirms that the extended conceptual framework, incorporating an Enterprise Risk Maturity Index and Green Supply Chain Management adoption as boundary conditions, is statistically robust. A technology deployment roadmap, cross-cooperative cost-benefit analysis, and regional regulatory alignment assessment further translate the empirical findings into an actionable rollout sequence for SME cooperatives and their policy partners.