Designing Effective Productive Zakat Interventions: a Comparative System Dynamics Analysis of Rural and Urban BAZNAS Programs

Abstract

Productive zakat increasingly supports income-generating activities among mustahik. However, evaluations often treat beneficiaries as homogeneous and overlook differences in program mechanisms across rural and urban settings. This study compares four productive zakat programs implemented by BAZNAS offices in East Java: broiler farming in Ngawi, goat livestock in Trenggalek, Baznas Microfinance Desa in Mojokerto, and a grant-based productive asset program in Surabaya. Using a comparative case-study design, the study combines qualitative field evidence with system dynamics simulation. Interviews, focus group discussions, field observations, and institutional monitoring records inform the model parameters, including return on investment, success rate, implementation delay, and revolving period. The simulation covers 36 months, assumes a constant monthly zakat allocation of IDR 100 million, and sets the marginal propensity to consume at one. Under these parameters, the three revolving designs generate more sustained modeled consumption trajectories than the non-revolving grant-based program. Baznas Microfinance Desa reaches approximately IDR 845 million by month 36, followed by broiler farming at IDR 693 million, while the grant-based program plateaus at around IDR 79–80 million. Although rural asset-based programs have longer activation periods due to biological production cycles, their modeled consumption effects strengthen through asset recycling. This study offers a context-sensitive dynamic framework for comparing productive zakat designs. Its fiqh discussion considers the compatibility of revolving mechanisms with maqasid al-shari’ah, tamlik, and Indonesian zakat regulation. The findings suggest that BAZNAS should align revolving mechanisms, monitoring arrangements, and evaluation horizons with local livelihood conditions rather than apply uniform program designs.