Problems of ensuring Russia's food security in the context of global challenges and threats

Abstract

Subject/topic. The article presents the results of the analysis of the country's food security, identifies problems. The purpose of the work is to analyze the system of ensuring food security in Russia and identify its main problems in the context of global challenges and threats. Methodology. The reliability of the results of the conducted research is ensured by the correctness of the construction of the logic and scheme of the study. As a methodological basis were used the scientific and applied results of research by Russian and foreign scientists in the areas of ensuring food security, problems of import substitution and building the potential of the agro-industrial complex. The information base of the study includes data from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the World Trade Organization and regulatory legal acts; materials of state statistics bodies, etc. Conclusions/significance. As a result of the conducted scientific research, the following conclusions were made that having the world's largest natural resources, Russia consumes resources 8 times less than the United States and Europe, while not being able to meet the population's demand for food products at the expense of its own production, making up for the lack of them with large-scale imports, even those types of food that can be produced independently in sufficient quantities. It was noted that over the past 20 years, by the end of 2020, the volume of exports of food and agricultural raw materials exceeded imports, however, it is impossible to speak with full confidence about ensuring food security in Russia since there are a number of systemic problems. At the same time, the adoption of the Food Security Doctrine and other regulatory documents providing socio-economic support for the village and the intensification of agricultural production had, to a certain extent, a positive impact, but the achieved level of food security is insufficient to consider the problem of independence close to a solution. A decrease in the income of the population and an increase in the price of food lead to a lower supply of food products to the population, due to a decrease in their economic accessibility, as well as to an increase in the share of food costs in the total expenditures of the population. There is a tendency to reduce the physical availability of food due to the transformation of channels and methods of selling products. In general, the thresholds set by the Doctrine in 2020 were reached for vegetable oil (61,7 percentage points higher), grain (+11 percentage points) and meat and meat products (+9 percentage points). Below the threshold values are such categories of food products as: fruits and berries (-22,6 pp.), fish and fish products (-16,8 pp.), sugar (-8,7 pp.), vegetables and melons (-4,4 pp.), milk and dairy products (-0,7 pp.). In the Global Food Security Index, Russia is in 24th place in terms of food availability, in terms of their quality and safety – the thirtieth. Also, as follows from the rating, scientific research and development are practically not developed, agricultural infrastructure is poorly developed, and there are also political and social barriers. As for the availability of food for the population, Russia is on the 20th position in the rating (87,2 points). We believe that taking into account the production potential in the field of agricultural production, a place even in the top ten for food security would be insufficient for Russia. In this situation, it is advisable to study and implement the best practices of international experience in ensuring food security, based on three main approaches: protectionist (Japan, Norway) – protection of domestic production; intermediate (EU countries) – ensuring food security within the EU; export-oriented (USA) – subsidizing exports provided that the domestic market is saturated with products. Research in this direction is further in the framework of deepening the studied problems. Application. The obtained results of the study can be used by the authorities and management as a theoretical and practical basis for making managerial and operational decisions in the field of ensuring food security of the country.