SOCIO-ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF ENSURING FOOD SECURITY IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Ensuring the country's food security is a complex and responsible task, the solution of which is determined by a combination of many factors and factors. Socio-economic factors that determine the level of physical and economic availability of food for the country's population are decisive among these factors. The article examines the main socio-economic factors that influence the sufficiency and availability of food for the population of Ukraine. Among the most important of them, the value of the minimum food basket of Ukrainians, food prices, incomes and expenses of the population, and price trends in the food market were analyzed. A quantitative assessment of rates of the ratio of the cost of a food set and the average wage in Ukraine, which determines the economic availability of food for the population, was carried out. The structure of household expenses is analyzed. The obtained research results showed threatening trends in the growth of the share of population expenditure on food in the structure of spending to the maximum critical value. The price trends for food products and their changes in recent years have been studied. The income level of the population of Ukraine, the actual wages, and their combined effect on the availability and state of food supply are analyzed. An analytical assessment of the current state and dynamics of the level of food self-sufficiency of the population of Ukraine by its main types was carried out. Specific threatening trends have been identified regarding the sufficiency of domestic production of certain food products for food security (fruits, berries, and grapes are characterized. A set of fundamental principles are substantiated, which, according to the authors, become a priority in ensuring the strategic food security of Ukraine based on sustainable development. Priority among them are highlighted: priorities of food quality, safety, and environmental friendliness, formation of sustainable food security networks based on the creation of inclusive agro-food markets, increasing the level of social responsibility of food producers and food consumers, strategic priorities of environmental friendliness, conservation of natural and biological resources and minimization of climate change. Certain aspects of the quality and safety of agricultural production and food products were investigated in the context of the prohibited principles. The organizational principles of food quality and safety monitoring processes in the Ukrainian agro-food sector have been studied.