Strategic sustainability assessment of rural agribusiness infrastructure systems in humid tropical regions

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Agribusiness infrastructure systems play a pivotal role in rural transformation by strengthening local economies, reducing post-harvest losses, and advancing sustainable food supply chains. In the context of the global development agenda, their significance is directly associated with sustainable development goals, especially in fostering food security, alleviating poverty, and encouraging environmentally sustainable practices. Despite this significance, empirical evidence on their long-term sustainability in humid tropical regions remains limited, leaving policymakers without comprehensive guidance for effective interventions. This study tackles the existing gap by assessing the multifaceted sustainability of agribusiness distribution systems and developing strategic approaches for their enhancement. METHODS: A multidimensional scaling technique, consistent with the sustainability assessment framework of food and agriculture systems, was utilized to evaluate the economic, social, environmental, technological, and institutional dimensions. Data collection involved stakeholder surveys, expert evaluations, and field observations, with robustness tested using Monte Carlo simulations. Leverage analysis was used to identify influential attributes, while strategic options were crafted using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats framework. A case study was conducted on a rural agribusiness sub-terminal in West Java, Indonesia, to illustrate the framework. FINDINGS: The evaluation categorized the system as having low sustainability, with total scores falling below 50 percent. The lowest performances were observed in the technological (29.33 percent) and economic (34.61 percent) dimensions, followed by environmental (42.07 percent) and institutional (43.76 percent) aspects. Social performance was comparatively stronger, though it remained moderate. The leverage analysis highlighted financial access, digital innovation, and emission reduction as critical factors. Strategic analysis highlighted opportunities in fintech adoption, clean technologies, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, While main threats included climate risks, regulatory uncertainty, and market volatility. CONCLUSION: The study proposes an integrated strategic framework across eight domains: financial empowerment, market stability, social inclusion, community strengthening, environmental management, technology adoption, governance, and institutional collaboration. The framework provides valuable insights that can be applied to improve agribusiness distribution systems in humid tropical areas and offers a replicable guide for planning sustainable rural infrastructure. Methodologically, it demonstrates the novelty of combining multidimensional scaling with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats framework to bridge diagnostic assessment and strategic design, offering both theoretical and policy-relevant contributions.