Socio-Economic Impacts of Rubber Farming on RuralCommunities: A Systematic Literature Review

The expansion of rubber farming over the last two to three decades has been significant globally. Previously, it was mostly seen in Southeast Asian countries and was cultivated in large areas covered with rubber trees; however, this cultivation has also expanded to new regions, such as South Asia, Southwest China, India, Africa, and parts of Latin America. Therefore, it is essential to study its positive and negative socio-economic impacts ‎on the economy. Apart from the negative consequences for people, the environment, and the economy, rubber farming has benefited growers and rural communities by generating employment opportunities and income, helping them improve their households' or families' financial situations. To further ‎emphasize its various socio-economic impacts, especially on rural communities, such as economic, social, and ‎environmental benefits, this systematic review was conducted. In this research, from an initial pool of 3,364 ‎papers identified through specific search terms in our literature review, only 50 were selected, and after applying ‎all inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 41 papers published between 2010 and 2025 were found to be relevant ‎for this study. This includes journal articles, conference papers, theses, reports, and book chapters, among ‎others. The review examines all the selected works, evaluates them, identifies gaps and inconsistencies, and ‎then collects the necessary information or data to address our five main research questions, offering several ‎recommendations in the process‎.