Macadamia integrifolia farming for sustainable development: Global experiences, opportunities, and challenges for scaling up

This review explores the potential of Macadamia integrifolia farming as a pathway for sustainable development, with particular emphasis on its contributions to food and nutrition security, income generation, and environmental sustainability across continents. Employing a scoping review methodology, the study synthesizes evidence and lessons learned from different articles, and key producing countries. The findings reveal that macadamia farming, both in monoculture and agroforestry systems, delivers multiple benefits: it enhances nutritional outcomes due to its rich micronutrient profile, supports rural livelihoods through stable income generation, and improves ecological health promoting soil quality, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. Critical success factors identified include strong institutional support, investment in research and development, market access, and the effective inclusion of smallholder farmers. However, the sector also faces notable challenges such as long maturation periods, market volatility, pest infestations, and vulnerability to climate change. The study emphasizes the importance of regional collaboration and proposes a comprehensive framework to strengthen sustainability and scalability of Macadamia production for sustainable development. This framework serves as a strategic tool to guide policy alignment, capacity building, and value chain development. Generally, the review calls for the expansion of macadamia cultivation into emerging economies to unlock the full potential of this climate-resilient, high-value crop in advancing local livelihoods and global sustainable development goals. • Scoping review synthesizes multiple purposes of macadamia farming • Macadamia improves food and nutrition security in rural communities • Macadamia farming generates steady income for farmers • Macadamia supports agroforestry: enhances soil, biodiversity, carbon storage • A framework is proposed to scale macadamia in emerging economies