Beyond formation: Ensuring the sustainability of self-help groups

Self-help groups (SHGs) have mobilised rural women across India at scale; however, evidence regarding the factors that sustain these groups remains limited. Existing reviews typically address either financial indicators or empowerment outcomes in isolation, and none integrates sustainability determinants across financial, institutional, social, and environmental domains. This study addresses this gap by employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic coding framework guided by Collective Action Theory (CAT) and the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA). The findings reveal that sustainability cannot be reduced to repayment rates or savings alone. Instead, it emerges from interactions among external institutional, internal social, and livelihood subsystems within a socio-ecological context. External support yields divergent outcomes depending on whether it reinforces or displaces member-controlled governance. Social capital produces non-linear effects, sustaining cooperation only when institutionalised through accountability mechanisms. These outcomes challenge prevailing assessment frameworks which prioritise financial indicators and point to the need for a multidimensional evaluative approach.