A Non-Parametric Approach-Based Trade-Off between Food System Efficiency and Robustness

Muna A. Al-Ansari, Hamad Nabeel (), Galal M. Abdella, Tarek El Mekkawy and Adeeb A. Kutty
Additional contact information
Muna A. Al-Ansari: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar
Hamad Nabeel: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar
Galal M. Abdella: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar
Tarek El Mekkawy: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar
Adeeb A. Kutty: Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Balancing the efficiency and robustness of food systems is a well-known trade-off process. Over-optimization of efficiency may lead to excessive use of resources. On the other hand, the under-optimization of efficiency may lead to excessive waste of resources. This paper presents a novelly structured approach that integrates two well-suited non-parametric methods for analyzing and balancing the interconnection between the efficiency and robustness of food systems. This approach, which consists of three main steps, provides a theoretical framework and offers practical solutions. First, slacks-based data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) is utilized to analyze the efficiency of five food robustness dimensions. Second, the weighted efficiency of these dimensions is computed and analyzed to provide insight into their influence on food system efficiency. Finally, two search methods were developed to identify improving efficiency and robustness opportunities. The outcomes of these methods were analyzed and validated using data from 37 countries, with robustness dimension weights determined via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). While the first improvement method provided valuable insights, the second method proved more effective in identifying the sources of inefficiency of robustness dimensions.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis (DEA); food systems robustness; food security; slacks-based measure (SBM); analytic hierarchy process (AHP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6480/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6480/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6480-:d:1445235

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().