A systematic review of social innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship practices in the agri-food sector and their contribution to socioenvironmental resilience of rural producers

Rural agri-food systems face converging crises that threaten the sustainability of small-scale producers and local food systems. Given the absence of robust syntheses integrating social innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship as systemic responses for socio-environmental resilience, this systematic review was conducted applying PRISMA 2020 methodology. Social innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship practices were characterized, their impacts on sustainability dimensions were evaluated, and success factors and barriers were identified. Results revealed a predominance of studies focused on social innovation compared to sustainable entrepreneurship, with experiences distributed across Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The analyzed initiatives encompassed social agriculture, community gardens, inclusive agribusiness models, women’s cooperatives, and regenerative agroecological projects. Overall, they reported positive effects on social inclusion, community empowerment, market access, income diversification, and improvement of environmental practices. Among facilitating factors, collaborative governance across sectors, local leadership, and the capacity to articulate heterogeneous resources stood out prominently. Identified barriers included poorly adapted regulatory frameworks, dependency on external funding, and tensions between economic and socio-environmental objectives. The synthesized evidence indicated that hybrid practices combining social innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship contributed significantly to the socio-environmental resilience of rural producers, provided they are embedded in favorable institutional environments and supported by public policies and legal frameworks that recognize and strengthen their specificity. These review offers practical guidance to policymakers and practitioners to design integrated rural development strategies that foster enabling institutional conditions, cross-sector collaboration, and long-term sustainability of hybrid agri-food initiatives.