FOOD SECURITY OF THE BLACK SEA LITTORAL AND FEATURES OF ITS DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

A critical review of the definition of “food security” (FS) in the context of the views of economists was conducted. The main indicators were analysed that make it possible to determine the actual food security level of the country and the region. Justified the necessity of establishing food security as a priority goal of state policy. The food security of Ukraine was considered as a derivative of anthropogenic loading on the natural environment. The aim of the article. The purpose of this study is a critical review of scientific works on the problems of assessing the food security level, calculation of food security indicators with the established rational norms of food consumption in order to analyse the existing food security system of the Ukrainian Black Sea region and the peculiarities of its development. The subject of the study is theoretical bases, methodological approaches and practical recommendations for the definition of the existing system of indicators of food security and their thresholds for foreign values. Methodology. The methodological and theoretical foundations of the research are the scientific positions of economic theory, agro-food complex, planning and forecasting, scientific publications of domestic and foreign scientists in various spheres of economic science. In order to achieve the conceptual integrity of the work, general scientific and special methods were used: analysis and synthesis – for the comprehensive study of food safety processes; systematization – to identify the conditions, factors of providing food security; statistical – for generalization, systematization, and revealing of development tendencies of phenomena and processes connected with food safety of the region; graphic – for the visual display of the regularities of the change of food security indicators. Results. The conducted research indicates an improvement of the status of food safety indicators. The negative aspect is the ineffective state regulation of foreign trade, the conditions for the effective development of the food market are not created, and there are no favourable conditions for increasing the production volumes of the main agricultural products types. Value/originality. The methodology for determining the indicators for assessing the state of food security, which exist at present, requires new approaches and improvements. The conducted research allowed the authors to combine indicators into groups. The research has shown that for the sake of a comprehensive, complete analysis of the state of food security, it is necessary to take into account the indicators: socio-economic, which take into account such components as level and quality of life, solvency of the population, demographic factor; macroeconomic, such as gross aggregate product, gross domestic product, personal income, because the problem is systemic and related to the development of the country and its individual regions. From the author’s point of view, from the strategic perspective, Ukraine should make the transition to the food safety indicators proposed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). This will allow an assessment of the real state of food security, which was formed in the regions and in the country as a whole, and urgently take appropriate action to improve it.