Logistics as Entrepreneurial Infrastructure in the Sustainable Rural Economy : A Two-Phase Analogue–Digital Framework for Remote Agroforestry Systems

Ronen, Daniel and Fatorachian, Hajar and Boyacı, Burak and Shellard, Ian and Singer, Michael (2026) Logistics as Entrepreneurial Infrastructure in the Sustainable Rural Economy : A Two-Phase Analogue–Digital Framework for Remote Agroforestry Systems. Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship: 100146. ISSN 2773-0328 (In Press)

Abstract

Remote agroforestry systems face persistent logistical constraints arising from dispersed production, weak infrastructure, and intermittent connectivity. These constraints often limit their capacity to generate stable economic value, participate in regional markets, and contribute to sustainable rural economic development. This paper reframes logistics in such settings as a foundational socio-technical and entrepreneurial capability that enables the emergence of viable agroforestry enterprises and sustainable bioeconomic activity rather than merely a downstream operational function. Integrating insights from sustainable entrepreneurship, rural economics, circular economy thinking, socio-technical transitions, and logistics systems design, the study develops the Two-Phase Agroforestry Logistics Architecture (TPALA)—a conceptual framework explaining how logistics capability can emerge, stabilise, and evolve under infrastructural scarcity. Using abductive reasoning and contextual illustration, TPALA identifies a sequenced pathway in which analogue stabilisation—predictable mobility, decentralised aggregation, custodian-led governance, and low-tech verification—establish the behavioural and informational reliability required for digital augmentation. The second phase introduces geo-tagged verification, offline-capable reporting, layered assurance mechanisms, and predictive analytics, enhancing traceability, coordination, and economic participation while preserving community-embedded routines. By linking logistics capability to opportunity formation and enterprise development, the framework specifies how logistics functions as entrepreneurial infrastructure in distributed agroforestry systems. The paper contributes to sustainable technology and entrepreneurship research by theorising logistics capability formation as a socio-technical mechanism enabling enterprise emergence under infrastructural constraint, with implications for sequenced investment, governance alignment, and the development of digital absorptive capacity in remote agroforestry systems.