FOOD SECURITY IN A MODERN INTERPRETATION

Abstract

It is substantiated that food security is one of the main components of national security, as it guarantees citizens of their country access to a sufficient amount of high-quality and safe food products, and contributes to social stability and strengthening the country's economic potential. Attention is drawn to the fact that when considering the concept of food security, it is worth starting with studying the essence of the concept of "security". It is noted that the most accurate and successful definition of "security" is as a state of protection of the vital interests of the individual, society and the state from internal and external threats. The above factors, taken together, convincingly indicate that currently, among the destabilizing factors of food security, the following should be highlighted: economic crises, climate change, political and social barriers, strategic uncertainty, and military actions, which have caused many challenges for the domestic economy, in particular for the agricultural sector of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to substantiate its own refined definition of the concept of "food security" based on the analysis and generalization of scientific approaches. The work uses general scientific and special research methods: induction and deduction, analytical, logical, statistical and economic. In view of the goal, a review of the legislative framework was carried out, where "food security is defined as a state of the economy in which every citizen is guaranteed access to food, drinking water and other products, the quality, assortment and volume of which correspond to the physical and social development of the individual, ensuring health and reproduction of the country's population." An analysis of scientific works on ensuring food security shows that at the national and global levels, the development of approaches to interpreting and defining the concept of food security was largely due to changes in the standard of living of the population, scientific and technological progress, and modern challenges. The authors have clarified the concept of "food security" and proposed their own comprehensive definition of the concept of "food security". Attention is focused on the need to consider this economic category as a component of national security. The results of the study are of a scientific and practical nature and can be used by scientists in further research on the state of food security.