The Role of Islamic Endowment (Waqf) in Achieving Food Security: A Netnographic Study

Purpose — Millions of people in many countries are facing food crises, hunger, and malnutrition. While various initiatives have been started, more innovation is needed to address these issues. This study aims to explore the potential role of waqf (Islamic endowment) in achieving food security. Design/Methodology/Approach — The netnographic approach and text mining technique are used to explore available and relevant data from the internet. Orange Data Mining is used to assist in analysing the collected data. Findings — This study reveals that waqf may become a sustainable means of achieving food security in both the green and blue economy. Idle waqf lands may be considered as agricultural lands and may help prevent land conversion. Cash and various hybrid waqf can be invested in the real sector to increase food production and improve food distribution. Several success stories on the use of waqf in the agricultural, animal husbandry, and fisheries sectors are elaborated. Originality/Value — This study attempts to integrate waqf and food security, an approach which has been rarely covered in previous studies. This represents pioneering research that utilises a netnographic approach in this field. The current study is expected to shed more light on the present and future contributions of waqf in addressing the global issue of food security. Research Limitations/Implications — This research used specific keywords to identify relevant webinars and videos related to food security. There is a possibility that relevant videos which use other keywords were not included in this study. Practical Implications — A national scale collaboration project to showcase the role of waqf as a form of sustainable finance to achieve food security is necessary. In parallel, relevant authorities may consider utilising waqf assets and issuing required regulations to enable waqf as an alternative form of sustainable finance in promoting food security.