Socio-economic Model of Regional Food Independence

M. Fedorova

, А. Romanova

, S. Panov

and N. Pershina

Moscow State University of Technology and Management named after K.G Razumovskiy (First Cossack University),

Zemlyanoy Val str., 73, Moscow, Russian Federation

Tyumen State University, Volodarskogo st., 6, Tyumen, Russian Federation

Keywords: Food security, food independence, sustainable development of the region, food self-sufficiency model.

Abstract: This article builds a model of regional self-sufficiency based on an analysis of the socio-economic situation

in the provision of food to the population which developed in the Omsk region in the 70-80s of the XX century.

It considers the components of this model based on the results of the activities of various forms of agricultural

production. The article also considers the ratio of personal subsidiary plots of rural residents, subsidiary plots

at industrial enterprises, gardening partnerships in the region. The model analysis made it possible to draw

the following conclusion: the solution of food independence in certain regions of Soviet Russia during the

period of prevalence of extensive forms of agriculture was ensured by a combination of administrative and

economic methods based on the stable combinations of forms of agricultural production that developed in

these territories which served as a guarantor of self-sufficiency of the population with food.

1 INTRODUCTION

The state agricultural policy in accordance with

Federal Law No. 264 is aimed at sustainable

development of agriculture and rural areas. At the

same time, the Decree of the President of the Russian

Federation No. 29 of January 21, 2020, establishes the

directions of the state agrarian policy which should

ensure the food security of the state, understood as

ensuring food independence. The key indicator of

food independence is the ability of the state to self-

sufficiency in the main types of domestic agricultural

products, raw materials and foodstuffs. One of the

directions of ensuring food independence, established

in the Decree, is the improvement of mechanisms for

regulating the market of agricultural products, which

can be developed based on the analysis of models of

self-sufficiency of the country's regions, implemented

in the 70s and 80s. of the XX century.

The countries with economies in transition which

include the Russian state have their own specifics in

resolving the food issue. Researchers name the weak

influence of the federal center on the solution of

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agricultural problems as the fundamental factors

influencing the decision of food independence. As a

result of this attitude, the food problem of the Russian

state is unnecessarily regionalized. In addition, the

tendency towards administrative methods of

reforming in the agrarian sector persists (Zinchenko,

2004), the natural factor is gaining particular

relevance against the background of global

environmental problems (Leushkina &

Popolzukhina, 2011).

The regional economic systems that have

developed in the recent historical period as a result of

combined state measures continue to retain their

significance as an example of solving the problem of

food security at the meso-level.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Researchers capture food security by measuring it at

macro and meso levels. The food security of

civilization is characterized by the level of grain

reserves and the amount of its production per capita.

140

Fedorova, M., Romanova, A., Panov, S. and Pershina, N.

Socio-economic Model of Regional Food Independence.

DOI: 10.5220/0010695100003169

In Proceedings of the International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference "Ensuring the Stability and Security of Socio-Economic Systems: Overcoming the Threats of the Crisis Space" (SES 2021),

pages 140-143

ISBN: 978-989-758-546-3

The average per capita production of grain crops is

constantly growing: from 305 kg in the 70s to 430 kg

in the 90s of the XX century. In the Russian state this

indicator was at the level of 450 kg per capita per year

(Sokolin, 2004).

At the meso-level, food security is determined by

a number of correlated indicators: the level of

imported food to the volume of own agricultural

production; the share of consumption of imported

food by the population; and the correlation of the

minimum per capita income and food prices

(Korolev, Zhukovskaya & Chertko, 2007). The

mesoeconomic level allows tracing horizontal links:

models of self-sufficiency of the population with food

in the regions of Soviet Russia and their features

(Mayevsky, 2018).

The formation of reliable conditions for food self-

sufficiency is a guaranteed basis for food security and

sustainability of the country's economic development

model. Domestic production of basic food products in

each individual region will eliminate the possibility

of political pressure, create the necessary conditions

for the constant supply of food to its own population

during periods of crisis in the development of the

economy. These parameters of food security will

allow assessing the state of agricultural production in

general and food consumption in the country in

specific historical conditions and in a particular

region. In addition, state food security implies the

availability of food to all segments of the population

(Tugolukova, 2016).

According to Gumerov (2003), food autonomy

implies a stage in the development of agricultural and

food production that can ensure a continuous supply

of food for the country's population, regardless of the

possible options for the global market situation and

foreign policy changes.

Food independence cannot exist for a long time

due to the import of imported food products, as it

implies curtailment of domestic production and

damage to domestic producers. Exceeding the 20%

share of food imports in the country means that the

state has lost its food independence and urgent

measures are required to ensure its food independence

(Gumerov, 2003).

The authors Gordeev & Chernyaev (2001),

pointing out the reasons for the aggravation of the

food problem, call the main one - a drop in the growth

of grain production, which satisfies a significant share

of the population's needs for food and serves as the

basis for the production of animal feed. As an

example, the following data are given: grain

production increased by more than 2% annually in the

world for 60 years (from 1950 to 1990) and during the

1990-1999s– only by 1%. At the same time, the

growth of the world's population during the last 10

years of the XX century exceeded 1.6% (Gordeev,

2001). The world food problem is reflected in the

regional one: both from the point of view of stating

risks, and from the point of view of finding ways to

solve the problem.

The concept of economic security, which

considers the aggregate socio-economic and political

state conditions that ensure the independence of the

national economy at all levels, including at the

regional level, allows studying the Omsk regional

model of agricultural development as an integral part

of the model of the national economy (Perezhogina,

2012). The historical-genetic method provides a

reproduction of a relatively real picture and the

content of events and facts that took place in the

agricultural sector in the 70s-80s. of the XX century.

Historical social reality consists of events, processes

and phenomena, i.e. interacting objects, in their

totality, representing a single whole (Kovalenko,

1987).

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The mechanism of organizing the management of the

agricultural sector in the 70s-80s. of XX century

assigned responsibility to the regional authorities for

the collective farms and state farms of mandatory

production planning tasks. The systematic

development of collective farms and state farms was

not within the competence of officials. Without

regard to the increase in costs in agriculture, there was

a gradual decline in the growth rate of agricultural

output (Fedorova & Chernyavskaya, 2005).

The low productivity of the agricultural sector of

the economy in Soviet Russia created a situation of

the impossibility of supplying the population of all

regions with the necessary food, and also contributed

to an increase in food imports (Table 1).

Table 1: Share of imported agricultural products in the

public system of consumption of basic agricultural products

in Russia, %.

Yrs. 1970 1980 1985 1988

Grain (except

cereals)

1.2 13.7 20.3 15.8

Sugar 25.4 31.4 26.2 24.5

Meat and

meat products

2.3 8.3 7.4 5.3

Vegetable oil 2.6 12.4 25.3 10.2

Socio-economic Model of Regional Food Independence

141

At the same time, agricultural raw materials and

products that could be produced and processed in

their own agro-industrial complex were imported

(Kuznetsova, 1991)

The search for ways to solve the problem by

attracting even more funds didn't pan out. More than

200 billion rubles were allocated to agriculture in the

70s of the XX century. There was no growth in labor

productivity and agricultural production (Razuvaeva,

1989).

The Soviet system, possessing command and

administrative features of the leadership, led to the

strong horizontal ties in the functioning of the All-

Union Fund of Agricultural Products. The major task

was the centralized concentration of agricultural

products in state hands. The process of collecting,

preserving, processing and bringing agricultural raw

materials and food to the consumer was deprived of

spontaneity. As a result, the interests of neither

producers nor consumers could be taken into account.

By the end of the 80s. of the XX century, the

centralized distribution order acquired a paradoxical

practice: food products concentrated in the capital and

regional centers were spontaneously bought up by the

population coming from numerous provinces. The

material costs were obvious. Products grown in

personal subsidiary plots were used mainly locally,

by the villagers themselves (Kuznetsova, 1991).

During this period, there were different models of

self-sufficiency of the country's residents with food,

which were formed in the regions of the country.

Characteristics of the Omsk model that emerged in

the second half of the 70s. of the XX century,

provides an opportunity to trace the inconsistency of

its functioning, successes and shortcomings, results,

as well as its elements in the modern agro-industrial

complex of the region on a single example.

The inconsistency of the self-sufficiency system

is primarily associated with regional production

imbalances and natural and climatic conditions that

affect the limitation or vice versa of the package of

food produced. On the other hand, a condition for

employment of both rural and urban populations and

an increase in their well-being was created in the long

term (Safin, 2009).

The Omsk model of self-sufficiency in food for

the population was based on the simultaneous

development of personal subsidiary plots (private

household plots), household plots (subsidiary plots)

of enterprises, and gardening associations of urban

residents. Personal subsidiary farms of rural workers

were considered as the main supplier of vegetable,

meat, and dairy food for the residents of the region.

Subsidiary farming of enterprises determined the

expansion of the range and the reduction in the food

cost for workers. Gardening partnerships also solved

humanitarian functions: surplus vegetables were

transferred to social institutions.

A combination of administrative and economic

regulation in the self-sufficiency system was found in

the region, a favorable structure of land holdings had

a positive effect (the presence of a sufficient number

of sown areas for grain and fodder crops was higher

in percentage terms than in the country, for example,

for grain by 4.6%). As a result of this activity, meat

consumption in the Omsk region was 5.6% higher

(Safin, 2009).

The food problem was also solved by creating

household plots at the enterprises. Their contribution

to the development of the food supply of the regions

was insignificant, and the cost of production was

high. For example, in 1981, the household plots of the

enterprises of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist

Republic produced an average of 1.4 kg of meat per

urban resident. There was some difference by region:

in the Altai Territory - 1.33 kg, in the Tyumen Region

- 3.4 kg, in the Tomsk Region - 1.5 kg, in the

Novosibirsk Region - 1.27 kg, in the Kemerovo

Region - 0.7 kg, in the Omsk Region. - 2.98 kg of

meat (Orlov, 2015).

Omsk region has created 151 subsidiary farms.

And although their food production was reflected

only in improving the diversity and quality of food for

employees of enterprises – this fact should not be

underestimated. Gardening associations specialized

in the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, and 15% of

the urban dwellers were engaged in this production.

The current model of self-sufficiency of the

population with food in the regions, including in the

Omsk region, remains relevant at the present time.

The Omsk Region has a developed agro-industrial

complex, which ranks second among Siberian regions

and is in the top ten among the leading agricultural

regions of the Russian Federation (Aleshchenko &

Kryukova, 2017).

In the post-Soviet period in the Omsk region there

were: 280 joint-stock companies, 41 agricultural

cooperatives, 23 state organizations, 31 collective

farms continued to work, 7272 peasant farms were

created. The agricultural sector was in the most

difficult situation during the first post-Soviet decade.

The removal of the state from the role of the main

regulator of the country's economic processes, the

price dispute between agricultural and industrial

goods and services in the country were the main

reasons for this phenomenon (Borovskikh, 2004).

As the researcher Rudik (2021) notes: the basis for

the provision of the food market of the Omsk region

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SOCIO - ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: OVERCOMING THE THREATS OF THE CRISIS SPACE"

142

is currently mainly made up of products of its own

agricultural production.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The Omsk model of self-sufficiency of the population

with food was formed on a contradictory combination

of administrative and economic methods of its

organization; had both extensive forms of farming,

and laid down humanistic approaches to solving the

issue of a fairly good balanced diet for the entire

population of the region. A feature of the Omsk

model was the combination of administrative and

economic methods of its organization.

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