Eco-efficiency assessment of Malaysian rice self-sufficiency approach

The self-sufficiency approach has emerged on the food security agenda, although some economists view this approach as misguided, costly, and influenced by political imperatives ahead of economic and environmental efficiency. Besides, the assessment of this approach is still rare in the eco-efficiency study. This paper assesses the Malaysian rice self-sufficiency (RSS) eco-efficiency performance from 2009 to 2018. The nonradial slack-based measure (SBM) undesirable output and the window analysis DEA procedures were conducted to evaluate the RSS eco-efficiency performance. We also performed the Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index calculation to mea-sure the productivity change over time. The results suggest that the RSS eco-efficiency performance at the na-tional level showed deterioration, although the country managed to elevate the production level. Based on the geographical analysis, the developed areas relatively had higher efficiency scores indicating that these areas also had a high economic and environmental performance. Meanwhile, the ML index evaluation at the national and regional level generally experienced deterioration. The future of RSS approach could be improved, mainly through the empowerment of good agricultural practices (GAPs), modernizing the infrastructures, efficient ag-rochemicals usage, etc.