Food security in the Volgograd region and directions of its improvement

Ensuring food security at the national and regional levels is considered as the main factor of economic safety of the country and improvement of the level and life quality of the population. The Volgograd region is an industrial-agrarian region, 78 % of which is represented by agricultural lands. The analysis of food security shows that over the past five years a greater number of agricultural products grew in volume production. The level of food security in terms of food self-sufficiency in most cases is at a high level. The Volgograd region provides such products as cereal, potatoes, vegetables, melon food, eggs. A significant problem for the region is the lack of availability of meat products. Consumption of some foodstuff by the population of the Volgograd region has decreased. According to the analysis of food security of the Volgograd region, it can be concluded that during 2011-2015 the region was characterized by a high level of it. Among all kinds of products that are produced at the territory of the Volgograd region, meat products have the worst dynamics in terms of production volumes. The authors recommend to create the meat cluster which would include agricultural enterprises, educational and research institutions, business entities and infrastructure objects. The purpose of creating this cluster consists in the cooperation between its elements and the reduction of effectiveness through innovation in production.