Assessing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability in North Africa: A Composite Indicator Approach Using Data Envelopment Analysis

North Africa faces significant challenges of food insecurity and environmental degradation, driven by rapid population growth, ongoing droughts, severe water stress, and increasing rates of undernourishment. Achieving food security and environmental sustainability requires a balanced evaluation of agricultural productivity, resource efficiency, ecosystem health, and climate resilience. Therefore, this study develops a composite food security and environmental sustainability index (FSESI) that encompasses complex relationships via multidimensional indicators. Data analysis was conducted for Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, and Mauritania, covering the period from 2010 to 2022. A comprehensive methodology employing data envelopment analysis (DEA) for objective weighting and geometric mean aggregation was implemented. The findings indicate notable disparities; Sudan presented the highest undernourishment rate (21.8% in 2010, 11.4% in 2022), whereas Libya faced severe water stress (783.12% to 817.14%). Morocco recorded the highest FSESI score of 0.78, reflecting strong performance in both the food security and environmental dimensions, whereas Algeria and Libya each had scores of 0.48, indicating relatively modest outcomes. Finally, sensitivity analysis was employed to check the robustness of the results. This research highlights the need for immediate policy actions focused on equitable resource management, enhanced agricultural methods, and reinforced food security initiatives. This study directly supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger; SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation; SDG 13, Climate Action; and SDG 15, Life on Land, by addressing integrated challenges in food security and environmental sustainability in North Africa. The originality of this work lies in its thorough integration of environmental and food security dimensions through innovative aggregation methods, offering a replicable framework that policymakers and researchers can use to address complex environmental and food security issues in North Africa sustainably.