Expanded Summary

Food security is one of the most important components of the national security of Georgia. In its provision, together with the political and resource potential, the regional aspect plays an ever-increasing role, which takes into account local conditions, production specialization and culture, the most important component of a sufficient number of production forces with the appropriate profile and experience - the workforce, the latter's interest, motivation, attraction and retention. At the level of the region, the validity, rationality and effectiveness of the official decision are revealed. In this direction, despite the obvious forward steps taken in Georgia in recent years, there are systemic shortcomings that prevent the situation in which, on the one hand, the country's food security is still quite vulnerable to external risks and challenges, and on the other hand, it leads to the status of the most "weakest link" of the non-prestigious economy for agriculture to preserve the stigma of the signifier.

Solving the problem of food security, as the most important component ensuring national security and sustainable development, requires significant efforts at the regional level. For this, first of all, an appropriate legal framework should be implemented, priorities should be determined and a sectoral structure of agriculture ensuring food security should be established.

The majority of the population of Georgia is still far from being fully supplied not only with their own production, but also with food products in general. For example, the consumption of meat and meat products is only at the level of 60 percent of the recommended norm of rational consumption. - 19.7 kg of the 38 kg of meat and meat products actually consumed annually per head of the population comes from local production - only 31.3 percent of the rational norm.

In such conditions, solving the problem of optimization of the sectoral structure of agriculture acquires special importance, for which it is necessary:

1. Determining the current and potential level of agricultural development;

2. Correct selection of industries by allocating those priority industries that meet the requirements of market relations (ie, the industry must be competitive in the domestic and foreign markets of the country);

3. Selecting a balanced, optimal model of own production and import.

After the restoration of statehood, the search for an independent positioning in the world market and a new role in the international division of labor and "Michena" significantly damaged those branches of the agricultural sector and those regions that were export-oriented in the first stage. The price parity, between the prices of export products and the prices of the main imported products, has significantly worsened for Georgia due to the change in the economic situation. For example, in the mid-1990s, to ensure the same amount of imports, it was necessary to sell 5 times more citrus fruits compared to 6-7 years ago. It is true that in the earlier "export-oriented regions" there was a kind of replacement of specialized industries (viticulture, tea-growing, citrus, essential oil production, etc.) by food-producing industries (cereals, sunflowers, vegetables, potatoes...), but it did not reach such a scale that it would produce compensation for food shortages.

Currently, Georgia has the opportunity to fully satisfy the population's needs for 7 out of 10 main agricultural products in the coming years (potatoes, vegetables, vegetables, fruits, milk and dairy products, eggs, fish). In order to reach the level of modern demands of the agricultural sector, to make an absolute contribution to the country's food supply, it is necessary to seriously correct its management principles, provide more effective state support, expand the subsidy system, overcome the parcelization of land, form a bank with a specialized agrarian profile, conduct a preferential credit policy and stimulate cooperation. These measures should play an important role in the development of the food market and, ultimately, in ensuring the country's food security.

In the same context, it is necessary to positively resolve two more issues:

- The issue of attracting investments in the agrarian sector and creating a specialized fund for agricultural development, the source of which may be the funds received from the monetization of various grants received from foreign countries and other targeted assistance.

The main production base for livestock development in Georgia is its mountainous region. Here, the development of animal husbandry will be the first condition for the revival of one of the main vital arteries of the country - Mtianeti, the preservation and development of the population and defense.

The independence of Georgia put the restoration of the historical functions of the mountain and bar and the equalization of the living standards of the population among the first realization tasks. The first steps have been taken in this direction, but despite the efforts of the central government and local self-government organizations, it has not yet been possible to overcome the significant gaps in development between mountain and lowland. They are essentially different from each other.

To correct the situation, the rational use of the agricultural and natural potential of the mountains and foothills, preservation of biodiversity, and sustainable economic development should become one of the main directions of the agrarian policy.

Agriculture, as a "weak link" of the economy, has its own "weak link" - animal husbandry, where productivity lags behind advanced countries by an average of 4-6 times. Taking into account the above, the center of gravity of livestock production growth should gradually shift from households to large, commodity-oriented farms and cooperatives, which in the future will allow us to increase meat production by approximately 3 times - to 260-280 thousand tons, and egg production - at least 2 times - to 1300 to a thousand pieces.

The development of food markets at the regional level can play an important role in ensuring food security, which, in addition to meeting the needs of the local population more fully, implies an increase in the motivation of local producers and farmers to produce agricultural products and sell them on the local market.

The issue of food security requires the active, complex efforts of the state to provide organizational, financial and institutional support for the growth of agricultural production, as well as the encouragement of direct foreign investments in this field, the implementation of special support programs for certain types of agricultural products.

It is also acceptable to take into account the fact that the multiplier effect of this industry is quite high - it is about 4-5 times higher than the similar indicator of the industry. More than 1/3 of the branches of the national economy are directly related to agriculture. One working place in the field ensures the creation of 5-6 jobs in other fields. Accordingly, the increase in the social and economic prestige of the activity in the agricultural sector not only ensures a stable level of employment in the mentioned segment of the economy, weakening the motivation for migration from the countryside, but also creates a solid basis for employment in other branches of the national economy and, accordingly, for the increase of added value. The mentioned circumstance is of great importance for the regions of Georgia, especially for the mountainous region, where the demographic situation of migration, workforce shortage and in general, is extremely acute. As a whole, the development of the agrarian sector ensures food security and thus - the strengthening of the country's security, sustainable economic development and the increase in the well-being of the population.