Food Security in Russia: Evolution of Priorities and Estimation Methods

Abstract

In the face of increasing threats to the national interests of Russia, the main strategic priority of its food security is the acquisition by the country of full food independence and sustainable competitive positions on the world food market. At the same time, the problem of a reliable estimation of the state of food security becomes important. The effective Food Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation includes detailed, but unclear and contradictory system of indicators that reflects the country’s priorities in food security only partially. The integrated assessment of food security executed for the period from 2010 to 2018 in accordance with the norms of the effective Doctrine revealed generally positive trends and the achievement of target safety criteria for a number of food products. However, the calculations on the indicators of the new Doctrine draft aimed at country’s self-sufficiency with basic food products and implementing its export potential showed that the criteria of independence for some kind of food are not met, and the export potential is absent, which predetermines the need to change food safety priorities and currently used methods of estimating its condition. The results obtained in the work can be applied in further research of the issues of assessing food safety and developing measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the national economic policy in food security.