Efficiency is the quality of being efficient. And efficient is performing in the best possible and the least wasteful manner. Humans are performing a task---creating well-being for themselves. In the context of human sustainability, the humans should be least wasteful of finite Earth resources. Thus, human efficiency is the best possible and least wasteful use of Earth resources. The best possible refers to the optimum amount of well-being which humans can create within the limits of Earth resources available and the limits of human capabilities. In the efficient processes of creating well-being in Kerala there is evidence of a synergistic relationship between new technologies and Kerala's gender equity.

Relative efficiency values of various human populations may be calculated within the context of sustainability.  Such calculations began by locating the society which meets the population requirement (zero population growth) of sustainability while utilizing the least amounts of Earth resources per capita. The amount of Earth resources utilized per capita in that society becomes the base one. All other societies which have also achieved zero population growth may be assigned an efficiency score---the inverse of the number of times their Earth resource utilization is greater than one and expressed as a per cent. We refer to this caculation the Kerala benchmark.

(Directory)  March 20, 2000