Promoting sustainable agroforestry development: a systematic literature review on the Rice-Fish-Duck-Forest system

Confronted with a myriad of challenges including ecological degradation, burgeoning population, and the scarcity of soil and water resources, enhancing the stability of agroforestry ecosystems and fostering sustainable development in agriculture and forestry have emerged as vital solutions. A thorough and comprehensive understanding of a sustainable agroforestry ecosystem and the construction of a sustainable agroforestry development framework are key to solving these problems. The Rice-Fish-Duck-Forest (RFDF) agroforestry ecosystem epitomizes a sustainable agroforestry system, significantly contributing to sustainable development across local economic, ecological, and socio-cultural dimensions. This study employs a systematic literature review methodology to synthesize and analyze 41 selected publications. The systematic literature review reveals the following: (1) The attention to and development trends of the RFDF system are continuously rising, with global research efforts underway; the RFDF system is evolving interdisciplinarily and flourishing across multiple sectors. (2) The RFDF system demonstrates sustainability in management, ecological, economic, and socio-cultural realms. (3) The primary obstacles to the RFDF system’s progress include deforestation, the marginalization of traditional culture and knowledge, and inadequate community involvement in management. Based on the research results, this study: (1) proposes specific measures to address the slow development of the RFDF system, (2) discusses the future challenges, innovations, and development of the RFDF system, (3) innovatively constructs both a conceptual framework and an indicator framework for the sustainable development of the RFDF system, and (4) demonstrates the effectiveness of the indicator framework in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. This study provides important information for agricultural and forestry practitioners and relevant policymakers on managing the supply capacity of the RFDF system, and it offers significant insights into the sustainable development of agroforestry ecosystems.