Green charcoal offers a potential alternative to traditional biomass fuels in Uganda, yet its value chain remains fragmented, ineffective, and undigitized. The study presents the design and development of a collaborative, modular digital platform aimed at improving coordination, traceability, and data-driven decision-making in the green charcoal value chain. Participants consultations through Future Workshops and focus group discussions were used to derive system requirements. The elicited requirements were processed and then transformed to design a microservices-based architecture, with role-based access controls and implemented with lightweight, open-source technologies suitable for low-resource environments. The platform models production efficiency, support compliance monitoring, and training and policy intervention. Phased pilot implementation is planned to assess usability, data accuracy, and system adoption with the help of specific capacity-building initiatives. It serves as an open and flexible platform, a model suitable for advancing sustainability and innovation in the green charcoal sector in Uganda and driving digital transformation in low-resource value chains. The modular architecture can be extended with the addition of IoT sensors, mobile payment systems and predictive analytics, allowing the platform to continue to be relevant and influential in the long run.
