Ensuring food security of the Republic of Belarus in the context of global trends

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the food security problem in many countries around the world. Although agri-food systems were more resilient to shocks than other sectors of the economy, the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic increased unemployment, lowered overall incomes and purchasing power, forcing consumers to switch to cheaper diets. The identified problems are exacerbated by the continuing increase in land degradation and biodiversity and increasingly frequent adverse weather events. In this regard, taking into account the increasing degree of involvement of states in international processes, it seems relevant to study the provision of national food security of the Republic of Belarus in the context of global trends for the timely identification and anticipation of risks and threats. The paper presents the results of study of modern aspects of ensuring food security at the global and national levels. The tendencies of physical and economic accessibility of food in the domestic market are revealed, the assessment of level of nutrition and quality of life of population is presented. Prospective directions for improving the state policy in the field of food security are substantiated, aimed at the optimal use of production potential, maintaining supply of food to population at a level sufficient for healthy nutrition, eliminating dependence on unjustified imports, protecting the interests of domestic producers, as well as enhancing foreign economic activity. Acknowledgments. The research was carried out within the framework of the State Research Program “Agricultural Technologies and Food Security” (subprogram 9.7 “Economy of agro-industrial complex”).