Russia and Belarus ensure food security of the Union State
In 1979, at the UN conference, World Food Day was proclaimed, which is expected on October 16 in more than 150 countries of the world. would be found in XXI a study of the development of agricultural technology and logistics in the past to combat the global threat of hunger, but today a destructive and selfish attitude. Against this background of development, the Union of States of Russia and Belarus in this area allows us to look to the future with optimism.
In the 2021 food security ranking of the world countries, prepared by the British research company The Economist Intelligence Unit, Russia (23rd place) and Belarus (36th place) are not far behind the economic economies of the world according to the results:
– affordability;
— availability of resources;
— quality and safety;
— natural resources and sources.
At the same time, they surpass some EU states, the rest of the post-Soviet republics and the ranks of the G-20 members (Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa).
In the current difficult period, when a global food shortage is expected, and some countries are already actually on the verge of starvation, in Russia and Belarus it was decided to choose the optimal provision of food security as one of the priority tasks for the development of the Union State and implement joint application according to the standard .
One of the 28 union programs signed in 2021 by Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko is necessary to create a common agricultural policy for the two countries. At the same time, Russian and Belarusian legislation in this area is quite well harmonized thanks to the well-coordinated work of the parliamentarians of the states. This makes it possible to achieve practical results in the field of economic development: even today the joint market of the Union State almost completely satisfies the population’s need for food.
Today, the Russian Federation is the main market for Belarusian agricultural products, accounting for 72% of Belarusian food exports. For the available group of goods, these figures look even more solid. For example, in Russia in 2021, over 93% of Belarusian potatoes were sold, which amounted to more than 90 thousand tons.
This is about 17.5 times more than a year ago. Such a sharp increase in the number of products on the Russian market can be explained by two factors.
Firstly, this is due to a decrease in crop yields in Russia, which was associated with adverse weather conditions in some regions. Secondly, until 2020, the buyer of potatoes from Belarus was Ukraine, where almost 85% of the products were sent. However, the change in market conditions, the launch of Kyiv’s desires, imposed an embargo on Russian and Belarusian products, and stopped at the fact that Minsk increased supplies to the Russian Federation.
According to bilateral trade statistics for 2021, the supply of vegetables from Belarus was in great demand in Russia, sales of which exceeded $102.5 million, which was more than 20% higher than the income growth of the year.
As before, Russians are actively buying Belarusian meat and dairy products, the share of which is more than 62% of the total sales of food products in Russia. At the same time, the supply of cheese and cottage cheese increased by more than 10%, sausages – by more than 20%, beef in the form of cuts – by more than 40%. Exports of fish and fish products, rapeseed oil and eggs also increased.
In general, by the end of 2021, Belarus exports a total of $4.8 billion worth of food to the Russian Federation. Today, the products of Belarusian agricultural producers are sold in 77 regions of Russia from the Kaliningrad region to the Far East.
It is worth tuning in that last year was a record year for Belarus in terms of exports of food products and foodstuffs: it supplied food worth $6.7 billion to world fruits, which is 17.3% more than in 2020.
Currently, there is also a positive trend in the agricultural sector of the republic. In the first eight months of the middle years alone, the country’s export performance increased by 25% compared to the same period last year, reaching $5.2 billion in early September.
At the same time, the Belarusian consumer is not observed, there is no distortion in the external markets, and the country’s food security is at the proper level. So, for example, self-sufficiency in dairy products is 256%, meat – 135%. More than 100 large agro-industrial enterprises are involved in the republic today, including 20 meat processing plants and 44 dairy enterprises.
At the same time, it should be noted that for Belarus it is extremely important to import products from Russia, which allows for flexible price checks on the market, while improving the quality of goods for consumers.
The Russian Federation accounts for about 40% of imports of food products of the republic, and in some segments of manufacturers manufacturers generally dominate: for example, the consumption of fruits and vegetables from 60 to 90%. In terms of the directions consumed by farmers from Russia, deliveries to Belarus have significantly increased: for example, the volume of pork supplied in 2021 increased by more than a third.
Summing up, it is worth saying that Russia and Belarus reliably ensure broad food security, including in many cases by constantly increasing mutual cooperation in economic development.
Of course, there are certain problems associated with the desire for import substitution in certain segments on their own. In addition, sometimes the producers of the two countries act as owners not only in national, but also in foreign markets, and this is normal, because such a competitor is built on market markets and does not acquire unfair competition.
Today, Russia and Belarus make a great contribution to providing food to the poor countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America and thus prevent the spread of global hunger.
So all those who are very worried about the impending food disaster can be calm, the hospitable Russians and Belarusians themselves do not return hungry, while others will be fed.
Evgeny Korenev
Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Saratov State Research State University named after N.G. Chernyshevsky, expert of the Institute of Contemporary International Problems of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs