Marginal Trade-Offs for Improved Agro-Ecological Efficiency Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Today’s agricultural management decisions impact food security and sustainable ecosystems, even when operating with back-to-basic operations. In such endeavors, policymakers usually need a quantitative tool, as trade-offs margins, to effectively adjust resource consumption or production. This paper applies the weighted slack-based measurement (SBM-DEA) program 136 developing countries’ performance. First, it finds current efficiency then makes marginal on desirable-output variables (such crop yield forest area) see effective changes in undesirable-output methane nitrous oxide emissions). The results show that choosing does not deteriorate relative of decision-making units (DMUs) below efficient frontier line. Thus, method enables decision-makers determine best trade-off points reach optimal efficiencies decide which output factor needs special brainstorming design policy.