A systematic review of sustainability attributes and indicators in cocoa agroecosystems from complex and autopoietic systems perspectives

This systematic review examines how sustainability has been assessed in cocoa agroecosystems and addresses a key gap in previous syntheses, namely the limited integration of ecological indicators with sociocultural, economic, and management dimensions. Following PRISMA guidelines, peer-reviewed studies published between 2011 and 2023 were identified through searches in Scopus and Web of Science. The reviewed literature covered 35 countries, with the strongest representation from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon, followed by Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ecuador. Research has primarily focused on environmental dimensions, especially biodiversity, vegetation structure, ecosystem services, and land-use dynamics, whereas the economic dimension remains notably underrepresented. Conceptually, this review advances the literature by interpreting cocoa agroecosystems as complex and autopoietic social systems in which sustainability emerges from interactions among ecological processes, farmers’ decision-making, institutional settings, and market conditions. The findings highlight agroforestry as a central pathway for reconciling productivity, biodiversity conservation, and farmer well-being, and support the development of more integrated indicator frameworks for policy and practice.