Food security of Ukraine under the war aggression: current state and future perspectives

Abstract

Key features of the country’s food security status that is caused by the war and particularly by the decrease of the population’s purchasing power, increase of the portion of their expenses for groceries; reduction of the farming lands areas and decrease in number of entrepreneurs; worsening of the indicators of country’s ranking in the Global Index of Food Security are revealed and critically evaluated in the article. Various measures of the administrative organizations and institutions to ensure stability of the national food market are characterized. Special attention is stressed on the fact that the liquidation of the institutional basis in food industry is one of the destructive factors that contributes to a complete devastation of agribusiness with the closed cycle of production, export that is focused on raw materials, GDP losses due to the missed food production with added value. The perspective to deepen the processing of the raw materials and expansion of the agri-processing power are proven. In the context of the long-term food self-sustainability of the various regions of Ukraine the expediency to develop a complex program to restore the food production based on the innovative modernization of the business processes and digital capabilities is substantiated. It is stated that in the situation of dynamic challenges it is required for Ukraine to correct the status of the food security in ascending direction based on the determination agrarians’ potential modernization. Based on the research results various stabilization measures are suggested and it is concluded that the use of the advanced technologies in food, processing industries and in agriculture will turn food safety into the modulator of the scientific and technological progress of the country. Transition to achieving long-term goals under current uncertainty and in post-war period will require coordination of joint efforts, powerful investment streams with orientation on foreign partners. Transformational processes will change the own model: proper production of the wide range of food products with improved quality standards and under established control of the final product to meet the international standards.