CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION AND RUSSIA’S FOOD SECURITY

DOI 10.33305/239-3

Issue № 9, 2023, article № 1, pages 3-16

Section: Agrarian policy: problems and decisions

Language: Russian

Original language title: СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ СИТУАЦИЯ И ПРОДОВОЛЬСТВЕННАЯ БЕЗОПАСНОСТЬ РОССИИ

Keywords: FOOD SECURITY, AGRICULTURE, DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION, URBANIZATION, POPULATION AGING, MIGRATION, LABOR FORCE, RURAL UNEMPLOYMENT, POTENTIAL LABOR FORCE, STANDARD OF LIVING, SHORTAGE OF PERSONNEL, SMALL COMMODITY PRODUCTION

Abstract: The results of the All-Russian Population Census showed that the rural population continues to decline and is aging rapidly, and the proportion of the working-age population decreased from 59.2% in 2010 to 55.7% in 2021, despite the expansion of the working-age boundaries. The number of rural pensioners employed in the economy is 900 thousand people. In addition, not all citizens are ready to work in agriculture. This is evidenced by the high percentage of graduates of universities and secondary vocational educational institutions who are not working in their specialty. Consequently, resources for replenishing, and even more so expanding the number of workers employed in agriculture among the rural population are very scarce. This suggests that the current demographic dynamics may become a serious limitation in the development of agriculture and ensuring the stability of the country's food market. The only demographic factor that has a positive impact on the development of the agricultural sector is international migration. This dictates the need to adjust the state migration policy and develop a set of measures to attract and consolidate foreign labor migrants in rural areas of the country. To solve the problem of the shortage of highly qualified personnel, it is proposed to introduce a planned distribution of graduates of agricultural educational institutions who have been trained on a budgetary basis. During the period between censuses, such a factor of maintaining the stability of the food supply system, which is directly related to demographic dynamics, as the production of agricultural products in the households of the population, which is associated with the aging of the population and the lack of effective mechanisms for the purchase of agricultural products and infrastructure for its storage, has significantly weakened. This dictates the need to develop a set of measures to stimulate small–scale commercial agricultural production, for which it is proposed to use the experience of Poland.

Authors: Lipatova Liudmila Nikolaevna, Kuzhelnaia Oksana Vladimirovna, Strokan Elena Valerevna, Pylknna Mariia Sergeevna