Digital-Based Transformation of Local Food MSMEs and Green Entrepreneurship to Support the Free Nutritious Meal Program
Keywords:
Digitalization, Green Entrepreneurship, Food MSMEs, Food Security.
Abstract
The provision of free nutritious food is a strategic effort to improve food security and community welfare. However, challenges related to food accessibility, distribution efficiency, and production sustainability remain significant obstacles. Digitalization and green entrepreneurship offer promising solutions to strengthen local food-based Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in supporting sustainable nutritious food programs. This study aims to analyze the role of digitalization and green entrepreneurship in enhancing the capacity of local food MSMEs to provide free nutritious food. The study focuses on the adoption of digital technologies, such as e-commerce and digital marketing, to improve operational efficiency and market reach, as well as the implementation of environmentally friendly business practices through the use of local resources and sustainable production processes. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed through literature review, interviews, and observations of food MSMEs implementing digital and sustainable business practices. The findings are expected to identify opportunities and challenges in integrating digitalization and green entrepreneurship, formulate a sustainable business model for food MSMEs, and provide policy recommendations to support the implementation of free nutritious food programs. This study contributes to the development of inclusive and sustainable local food systems while strengthening the role of MSMEs in community nutrition programs.
References
Ahmed, H., Nisar, Q. A., Khan, W., Patwary, A. K., & Zaman, S. (2023). Does green HRM really matter for sustainable performance? The role of environmental consciousness and green intellectual capital. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(54), 115882-115895. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30644-z
Al Halbusi, H., Popa, S., Alshibani, S. M., & Soto-Acosta, P. (2025). Greening the future: Analyzing green entrepreneurial orientation, green knowledge management and digital transformation for sustainable innovation and circular economy. European Journal of Innovation Management, 28(5), 1916-1942.
Alfrian, G., & Pitaloka, E. (2020). Strategies for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to Survive the Covid-19 Pandemic Conditions in Indonesia. Seminar Nasional Terapan Riset Inovatif (SENTRINOVE),
Alkhasoneh, O. M., Jamaludin, H., Bin Zahar, A. R. i., & Al-Sharafi, M. A. (2025). Drivers of social media use among SMEs and its impact on brand awareness and customer engagement. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 17(3), 595-615.
Belz, F.-M., Peattie, K., & Onel, N. (2025). Sustainability marketing: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
Chanchaichujit, J., Balasubramanian, S., Shukla, V., Upadhyay, A., & Kumar, A. (2023). Enablers and benefits of supply chain digitalization: An empirical study of Thai MSMEs. In Industry 4.0 Technologies: Sustainable Manufacturing Supply Chains: Volume II-Methods for transition and trends (pp. 113-131). Springer.
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Thrassou, A., & Vrontis, D. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding: the moderating role of knowledge hiders and knowledge seekers in organizations. Journal of business research, 128, 303-313.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Dong, Y., Ahmad, S. F., Irshad, M., Al-Razgan, M., Ali, Y. A., & Awwad, E. M. (2023). The digitalization paradigm: impacts on agri-food supply chain profitability and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(21), 15627.
Dorvlo, S. Y., Mkandawire, E., Mentz-Coetzee, M., Dougill, A., Swanepoel, F., Emmambux, M. N., Boakye, A., Anim-Jnr, A. S., Lungu, N. S., & Tchuwa, F. (2025). Transforming African food systems: perspectives from the Food Systems Network for Africa (FSNet-Africa). Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 102289.
Elkington, J., & Rowlands, I. H. (1999). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Alternatives Journal, 25(4), 42. https://www.proquest.com/openview/804cc9d98196ef6e26d88748e89f8db0/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=35934
Fawaid, A., Makruf, M., Sayyidi, S., Fatmawati, S. W., & Dewi, I. O. (2026). Theoretical model of green entrepreneurship and digital transformation in enhancing the sustainability of batik MSMEs with business innovation as a mediating variable. Cleaner Production Letters, 10, 100135. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100135
Hariram, N., Mekha, K., Suganthan, V., & Sudhakar, K. (2023). Sustainalism: An integrated socio-economic-environmental model to address sustainable development and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(13), 10682. https://doi.org/
https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310682
Kraus, S., Durst, S., Ferreira, J. J., Veiga, P., Kailer, N., & Weinmann, A. (2022). Digital transformation in business and management research: An overview of the current status quo. International Journal of Information Management, 63, 102466.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1988). Criteria for Assessing Naturalistic Inquiries as Reports.
Makhloufi, L., Laghouag, A. A., Meirun, T., & Belaid, F. (2022). Impact of green entrepreneurship orientation on environmental performance: The natural resource‐based view and environmental policy perspective. Business strategy and the environment, 31(1), 425-444. https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2902
Malik, S. (2024). Data-driven decision-making: leveraging the IoT for real-time sustainability in organizational behavior. Sustainability, 16(15), 6302.
Mangalaraj, G., Nerur, S., & Dwivedi, R. (2023). Digital transformation for agility and resilience: an exploratory study. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 63(1), 11-23.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis. sage.
Mondal, S., Singh, S., & Gupta, H. (2025). Analyzing the indicators of green entrepreneurship for the sustainable circular economy: a mixed-method approach. Benchmarking: An International Journal. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/bij-04-2024-0356
Nasution, E. Y., & Indria, T. (2021). Digitalisasi UMKM di masa pandemi. Prosiding Seminar Nasional Kewirausahaan,
Nordhagen, S., Igbeka, U., Rowlands, H., Shine, R. S., Heneghan, E., & Tench, J. (2021). COVID-19 and small enterprises in the food supply chain: Early impacts and implications for longer-term food system resilience in low-and middle-income countries. World Development, 141, 105405.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. (No Title).
Prasanna, R., Jayasundara, J., Naradda Gamage, S. K., Ekanayake, E., Rajapakshe, P., & Abeyrathne, G. (2019). Sustainability of SMEs in the competition: A systemic review on technological challenges and SME performance. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 5(4), 100.
Rejeb, A., Rejeb, K., Abdollahi, A., Zailani, S., Iranmanesh, M., & Ghobakhloo, M. (2021). Digitalization in food supply chains: A bibliometric review and key-route main path analysis. Sustainability, 14(1), 83.
Sivaiah, P., & Vinodan, A. (2026). Digitalization in stages: advancing sustainability reporting in SMEs through a maturity-based adoption model. Journal of Global Responsibility, 17(2), 250-292.
Sugiyono, S. (2013). Meto Penelitian Kualitatif Kuantitatif dan R&D. Alfabeta. In.
Al Halbusi, H., Popa, S., Alshibani, S. M., & Soto-Acosta, P. (2025). Greening the future: Analyzing green entrepreneurial orientation, green knowledge management and digital transformation for sustainable innovation and circular economy. European Journal of Innovation Management, 28(5), 1916-1942.
Alfrian, G., & Pitaloka, E. (2020). Strategies for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to Survive the Covid-19 Pandemic Conditions in Indonesia. Seminar Nasional Terapan Riset Inovatif (SENTRINOVE),
Alkhasoneh, O. M., Jamaludin, H., Bin Zahar, A. R. i., & Al-Sharafi, M. A. (2025). Drivers of social media use among SMEs and its impact on brand awareness and customer engagement. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 17(3), 595-615.
Belz, F.-M., Peattie, K., & Onel, N. (2025). Sustainability marketing: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
Chanchaichujit, J., Balasubramanian, S., Shukla, V., Upadhyay, A., & Kumar, A. (2023). Enablers and benefits of supply chain digitalization: An empirical study of Thai MSMEs. In Industry 4.0 Technologies: Sustainable Manufacturing Supply Chains: Volume II-Methods for transition and trends (pp. 113-131). Springer.
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Thrassou, A., & Vrontis, D. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding: the moderating role of knowledge hiders and knowledge seekers in organizations. Journal of business research, 128, 303-313.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Dong, Y., Ahmad, S. F., Irshad, M., Al-Razgan, M., Ali, Y. A., & Awwad, E. M. (2023). The digitalization paradigm: impacts on agri-food supply chain profitability and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(21), 15627.
Dorvlo, S. Y., Mkandawire, E., Mentz-Coetzee, M., Dougill, A., Swanepoel, F., Emmambux, M. N., Boakye, A., Anim-Jnr, A. S., Lungu, N. S., & Tchuwa, F. (2025). Transforming African food systems: perspectives from the Food Systems Network for Africa (FSNet-Africa). Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 102289.
Elkington, J., & Rowlands, I. H. (1999). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Alternatives Journal, 25(4), 42. https://www.proquest.com/openview/804cc9d98196ef6e26d88748e89f8db0/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=35934
Fawaid, A., Makruf, M., Sayyidi, S., Fatmawati, S. W., & Dewi, I. O. (2026). Theoretical model of green entrepreneurship and digital transformation in enhancing the sustainability of batik MSMEs with business innovation as a mediating variable. Cleaner Production Letters, 10, 100135. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clpl.2026.100135
Hariram, N., Mekha, K., Suganthan, V., & Sudhakar, K. (2023). Sustainalism: An integrated socio-economic-environmental model to address sustainable development and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(13), 10682. https://doi.org/
https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310682
Kraus, S., Durst, S., Ferreira, J. J., Veiga, P., Kailer, N., & Weinmann, A. (2022). Digital transformation in business and management research: An overview of the current status quo. International Journal of Information Management, 63, 102466.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1988). Criteria for Assessing Naturalistic Inquiries as Reports.
Makhloufi, L., Laghouag, A. A., Meirun, T., & Belaid, F. (2022). Impact of green entrepreneurship orientation on environmental performance: The natural resource‐based view and environmental policy perspective. Business strategy and the environment, 31(1), 425-444. https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2902
Malik, S. (2024). Data-driven decision-making: leveraging the IoT for real-time sustainability in organizational behavior. Sustainability, 16(15), 6302.
Mangalaraj, G., Nerur, S., & Dwivedi, R. (2023). Digital transformation for agility and resilience: an exploratory study. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 63(1), 11-23.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis. sage.
Mondal, S., Singh, S., & Gupta, H. (2025). Analyzing the indicators of green entrepreneurship for the sustainable circular economy: a mixed-method approach. Benchmarking: An International Journal. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/bij-04-2024-0356
Nasution, E. Y., & Indria, T. (2021). Digitalisasi UMKM di masa pandemi. Prosiding Seminar Nasional Kewirausahaan,
Nordhagen, S., Igbeka, U., Rowlands, H., Shine, R. S., Heneghan, E., & Tench, J. (2021). COVID-19 and small enterprises in the food supply chain: Early impacts and implications for longer-term food system resilience in low-and middle-income countries. World Development, 141, 105405.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. (No Title).
Prasanna, R., Jayasundara, J., Naradda Gamage, S. K., Ekanayake, E., Rajapakshe, P., & Abeyrathne, G. (2019). Sustainability of SMEs in the competition: A systemic review on technological challenges and SME performance. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 5(4), 100.
Rejeb, A., Rejeb, K., Abdollahi, A., Zailani, S., Iranmanesh, M., & Ghobakhloo, M. (2021). Digitalization in food supply chains: A bibliometric review and key-route main path analysis. Sustainability, 14(1), 83.
Sivaiah, P., & Vinodan, A. (2026). Digitalization in stages: advancing sustainability reporting in SMEs through a maturity-based adoption model. Journal of Global Responsibility, 17(2), 250-292.
Sugiyono, S. (2013). Meto Penelitian Kualitatif Kuantitatif dan R&D. Alfabeta. In.
Published
2026-06-19
How to Cite
Lutfiyanto, L., & Akh. Fawaid. (2026). Digital-Based Transformation of Local Food MSMEs and Green Entrepreneurship to Support the Free Nutritious Meal Program. International Journal of Economics, Business and Innovation Research, 5(04), 1635-1648. https://doi.org/10.63922/ijebir.v5i04.4195
.png)
Contact Person +6282139474255
Email : ijebir@citakonsultindo.or.id / editor.ijebir@gmail.com
