Evaluating strategies for equitable co-design of sustainability interventions with smallholder farmers

Purpose: Global food and agricultural systems face mounting climate, biodiversity and livelihood crises. Co-design–where stakeholders with different experiences and views work together to develop and create sustainable solutions–has gained attention as an approach to generate agricultural innovations that can help address these crises. Focusing on smallholder Kichwa-managed agroforestry cocoa systems in Napo, Ecuador, we conceptualise a co-design framework that embeds procedural equity to enhance the legitimacy and relevance of agricultural innovations bridging different knowledge systems. Approach: Through a literature review and PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental) analysis, informed by a series of focus groups with Napo cocoa producers, we identify principles, mechanisms and processes that can make co-design more equitable. These are combined into a framework incorporating equity considerations into all key co-design stages. Findings: Our analysis reveals that co-design potential in driving transformation in agricultural contexts depends not only on recognising equity as a goal but also relies on embedding procedural equity principles and mechanisms from the start and throughout all phases of the process. Early integration of fairness, inclusivity, and shared decision-making helps establish trust and legitimacy; prerequisites for sustained collaboration. In Napo, Kichwa farmer cooperatives’ tradition as spaces for discussion and collective decision-making offers favourable conditions to initiate equitable co-design processes. Our framework also redefines the role of extensionists and researchers as facilitators of knowledge exchange in co-design. Practical implications: The co-design framework we configured offers a structured but flexible approach for integrating equity within co-design processes, providing guidance for moving from top-down knowledge transfer to knowledge co-production. Theoretical implications: This study contributes to rethinking agricultural extension practices by demonstrating how embedding equity principles early in co-design can bridge diverse scientific traditions and enhance the legitimacy of agricultural innovations. Originality: This framework is among the first to explicitly operationalise equity-based co-design in Indigenous smallholder settings.