Building Rural Economic Resilience through Community-Based Agro-Industrialization: A Pre-Operational Feasibility Study of an Organic Cassava Flour Social Enterprise in Indonesia

ABSTRACT Purpose – This study examines the financial feasibility and projected socio-economic outcomes of establishing an organic cassava flour factory in Wuasa Village, Indonesia, based on a real-world social enterprise business plan with an existing export contract and organic certification. Design/methodology/approach – A concurrent transformative mixed-method design integrates quantitative financial feasibility analysis (Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Payback Period, Profitability Index) with qualitative assessment of expected social outcomes. Primary data were obtained from an in-depth interview with the enterprise owner and document analysis (EU Organic Certificate, export off-take agreement). Secondary data from village agricultural records and partnership records of 25 identified cassava farmers were used for demand and income projections. Findings – The proposed enterprise is financially viable across multiple scenarios: positive NPV of IDR 1.62 billion at 5% discount rate (IDR 1.25 billion at 7%), IRR of 13.74%, payback period of 1 year 8 months, and profitability index of 1.35. Projected socioeconomic benefits include 25 direct jobs, increased household income for partner farmers (cassava purchase price set at IDR 1,500/kg, significantly above local market rates), a partial scholarship program for farmers ’ children, and estimated local economic circulation exceeding IDR 2 billion annually. Economic resilience is operationalized via three mechanisms: value addition (price ratio = 10.5x), local multiplier effect, and institutional strengthening (240 planned training hours, cooperative formation). Originality – This study offers one of the few pre-implementation feasibility assessments of a community-based agro industrial social enterprise in the Global South that combines financial modeling with explicit resilience indicators. Unlike retrospective impact evaluations, it provides a transparent baseline for future longitudinal research. It also extends the Business Model Canvas for Social Enterprise (BMcSE) framework by integrating semiquantitative resilience metrics. Keywords – Rural economic resilience, Community-based agro-industrialization, Social entrepreneurship, Organic cassava flour, Indonesia, Feasibility study, Local multiplier effect, Business Model Canvas for Social Enterprise Paper type: Research paper Disclaimer: This manuscript is a preprint version submitted to the Social Enterprise Journal and is currently under peer review. This version has not yet been peer-reviewed or formally accepted for publication. The content is shared for early dissemination of research findings.