Sustainable Transformation Pathways in Tropical Beef Systems: A Global Scoping Review (2019–2025) with Insights from Indonesia

Indonesia’s beef cattle sector plays a central role in achieving food security, enhancing rural livelihoods, and fostering economic resilience. However, it faces fragmented governance, import dependence, and persistent challenges of low productivity levels. To capture the evolving evidence base, this study conducted a scoping review of 61 peer-reviewed publications (2019–2025) drawn from six major databases. This study employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Scoping Review Protocol and Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Key patterns, advances, and gaps, along with evidence and research recommendations, were identified using the PAGER analytical approach. The dominant themes include production efficiency, environmental sustainability, policy, market linkages, and technological innovation. The results show that most studies employed quantitative or system modelling designs. In the global literature, multidimensional sustainability frameworks have shifted away from production-centric ones, with regional studies highlighting different emphases, such as carbon metrics in South America and market access and livelihood resilience in Asia and Africa. Integrated crop, livestock, and forestry systems; legume-based nutrient management; genotype-specific feeding and breeding; and enabling policies within inclusive markets were revealed through the synthesis of the PAGER framework as four calculated levers for sustainable transformation. However, actors inadequately integrate feed, genetic, climate interactions, and governance mechanisms. According to this review, technological innovation must align with adaptive governance. Climate-resilient, low-carbon beef systems also require the development of inclusive institutional frameworks. Indonesia’s experience demonstrates the benefits of integrating science, policy, and the market to improve productivity, resource stewardship, and equity in tropical livestock systems, thereby enhancing a resilient agri-food supply chain in Indonesia.