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RFCs / RFC-0007 Supply signals draft Edit on GitHubMarkdown

RFC-0007: Farm surplus and supply signals

Status: proposed, 2026-10-04, experimental. Kind: new experimental schema. Gate: competition-law review before any production use (action plan C7).

Problem #

The founder's macro idea (M45): if cooking is planned, the amounts grown, moved and sold can match what is needed, with less waste, fewer trips and better planting decisions. The simulators show the effect; the standard has no document for it. Farmers meanwhile have no way to list a glut before it rots, and small producers fear a signal that favours large buyers.

Proposal #

  1. Surplus now, through the Humanitarian Profile. A farm is a donor (Item.origin: farm, harvestedAt), and the SMS grammar accepts FARM offers (RFC-0003). No new document is needed for rescue.
  2. **schemas/supply.schema.json** (experimental) with two documents:
    • **DemandSignal: publisher (organization), region (country, admin1, optional P-code), period (a week), ingredient class** (never a product or brand), quantity range in kg with method, number of contributing sources, delayDays since the period ended, basis (planned_meals, distributions, orders), and prices: "none" as a constant;
    • **SupplySignal**: publisher, region, period, ingredient class, availability (glut, normal, short), optional quantity range, harvest window, and openToAll: true as a constant.
  3. Policy rules, checkable by check_signal() in the reference library with profile vectors (signal_policy): at least 20 contributing sources; a delay of at least 7 days; no price fields; class-level only; region no finer than admin1 unless the source count is at least 100.
  4. Fairness: a published signal is public, free, and identical for every reader; no early access; publishers are organizations with a verified namespace.
  5. Status on the site: "next, after counsel review". Nothing is published by cookwala.ai until then.

Alternatives considered #

  • Per-product demand forecasts shared with retailers. Rejected: this is the information exchange competition authorities warn about.
  • Leave it to the simulators. Rejected: farmers need at least the surplus path today.

Migration #

New experimental schema; nothing else changes.

Open questions #

  1. Thresholds (20 sources, 7 days) are starting points; counsel and a statistician should set them.
  2. Should cooperatives be able to publish supply signals by SMS? Proposal: yes, later, via the same gateway.