The Potential For Ensuring Food Security In Ukraine In The Context Of The Ongoing Military Conflict

The subject of the research is the study of Ukraine's food security and the potential for improving it. Methodology. The article uses general scientific and specific methods of economic research: the method of content analysis (when processing scientific sources and reviewing the thematic literature, deduction and induction); abstract and logical method (when identifying problematic aspects of ensuring the country's food security, substantiating conclusions and proposals); the method of statistical calculations of regression economics (when substantiating the economic and mathematical model of food security, calculating the indicator of the actual state of self-sufficiency in food security). The purpose of the study is to assess the level of food security achieved by Ukraine and to identify the main factors that affect the potential for its possible improvement. Conclusion. Ukraine has significant potential to ensure food security at the national and European levels. However, over the past two years, Ukraine has lost its position in the global food security ranking according to the GFSI. The main problematic aspects that led to this are as follows: irrational use of land and labour resources, aging and migration of the rural population; sharp loss of agricultural biodiversity; high level of chemicalisation of agricultural production; loss of the potential for quality reproduction of agricultural land; significant inclusive gaps within rural areas; low level of funding for agricultural science and a predominantly raw material, agrarian orientation. The main reason for the downgrade of Ukraine's GFSI rating in 2022 was the ongoing military operations in the country. Despite the existing problematic aspects, the Ukrainian agricultural sector showed the highest level of sustainable development compared to other types of economic activity. The share of profitable enterprises in the sector was 79%. Ukraine is currently self-sufficient in food security for almost all types of agricultural products. The constructed economic-mathematical model showed a high degree of dependence of food security on such factors as the total value of assets of agricultural formations, the value of fixed assets and the amount of profit. It was determined that the key condition for increasing the potential for ensuring food security in Ukraine, both at the national and European level, should be the social responsibility of agribusiness and raising the level of sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas.