Changes in Self-Sufficiency in Beef and Pork in Selected Central and Eastern Europe Markets (Zmiany samowystarczalnosci na rynku miesa wolowego i wieprzowego w wybranych krajach Europy Srodkowo-Wschodniej)

Food self-sufficiency is considered a priority for modern economies. The meat market is among the most developed food markets in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Their accession to the European Union opened up new markets to producers, while raising competition levels. The aim of the article is to assess the level of self-sufficiency in beef and pork in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2005-2017. Simplified indicators of food self-sufficiency were used, with focus on measures of technical and economic self-sufficiency. Technical self-sufficiency was measured on the basis of the volume of foreign trade; the amount of meat produced per capita and the ratio of meat consumption to production were also taken into account. Economic self-sufficiency was assessed on the basis the value of foreign trade. Considerable differences in terms of self-sufficiency have been found among the countries of Central and Eastern European. It turns out that Poland, Lithuania and Estonia have the safest beef policy, while Hungary and Estonia are leaders in terms of pork production policies. Domestic beef production satisfies the demand in the majority of countries of Central and Eastern Europe; when it comes to pork, only Poland is self-sufficient. The lowest degree of beef and pork self-sufficiency has been observed in Bulgaria and Slovakia; Slovenia is least self-sufficient in terms of pork production.