Experts explained what makes our national food security model unique

Today, we are able to feed 2.5 Belarussians with dairy products and almost 1.5 of our own country with MEAT. In terms of grain and vegetable production per capita, we are among the top five CIS countries. But just recently, in the nineties, Belarusians were scraping by on potatoes and bread. In order to have buns and loaves of bread, they even had to buy grain in the Czech Republic! President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO cited these facts in his speech at the All-Russian People's Assembly . Experts were asked what helped the country to achieve food security and occupy its unique niche in the global food market, and what are the reserves for growth.
About the role of personality in history
- History knows that the flourishing of the Belarusian lands began with the arrival of extraordinary personalities, as they say today - successful managers who were given the time and will to carry out reforms and strengthen the state. This includes Vseslav the Sorcerer, who devoted his entire life to preserving the political independence and integrity of the Principality of Polotsk, the HEAD of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Vitovt (Alexander in baptism), who defeated the Teutonic Order at Grunwald, and the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. Each of them achieved significant success during their years of governance! - draws a historical parallel DOCTOR of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Analytical Economics and Econometrics of the Faculty of Economics of the Belarusian State University Mikhail Kovalev and notes an important feature: - When 30 years ago the young sovereign state - the Republic of Belarus - was headed by Alexander Lukashenko, he intuitively felt that the priority for Belarus is agriculture .
And the explanation for the President's decision to make agricultural production a locomotive was simple.

- From the first years of governing the country, the head of state demanded efficient work on the land. After all, there are 60 acres of arable land per Belarusian, while in the world there are only 20 acres. We have three times more than the global average! And it all worked out: gradually, the production of domestic food products began to grow, and in the 1990s, almost all food was purchased abroad! - the expert recalls. - Now Belarus produces more and more food products - a wide variety. The quality is world-class. We feed ourselves and provide food to foreign consumers. Our neighbors from the Baltic countries, where we used to go for dairy products, admit that we already make them better than they do. When they come to Belarus for our dairy products, they say: "It is tastier and better than ours!" The fact that we are doing everything correctly and properly is confirmed by the size of our exports. If in 2000 the country sold food abroad for $0.5 billion, then in recent years it has reached $8 billion. Deliveries abroad have increased 16 times - a fantastic figure!

World recognition
– Belarus has built a unique model of national food security. Its effectiveness has been proven by time and recognized all over the world, – confirms Svetlana Kondratenko, Doctor of Economics, Deputy DIRECTOR for Research at the State Enterprise “Institute for System Research in the Agro-Industrial Complex of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus”, noting the following: – At one time, the country made the right bet on highly productive, intensive agricultural production. Today, the gross added value of the agricultural sector is more than 7% of GDP. More than 16% of the volume of investments in fixed assets goes to agriculture, forestry and fisheries annually. A number of investment programs and measures are being implemented in the country to strengthen the material and technical base and increase the potential of the agro-industrial complex. Modern dairy complexes are being built. Processing industries are being re-equipped. Precision farming and smart animal husbandry contribute to the success of the industry. Wages in agriculture are also growing. In 2023, their increase reached 16.9%.
The scale of the achieved results is illustrated by the figures. For example, per capita grain production increased from 540 to 943 kg per capita (or by 75%), MILK from 497 to 853 kg (by 72%), and livestock and poultry in slaughter weight from 64 to 132 kg (more than 2 times) over the period from 1995 to 2022. The per capita production of the main types of agricultural products in Belarus exceeds the EAEU figures
. Belarus produces 853 kg of milk per person per year (267 kg in the EAEU), 132 kg of livestock and poultry (in slaughter weight) (78 kg in the EAEU), 375 eggs, and 310 kg of vegetables. The results are impressive.

“Belarusians have access to high-quality food, and the likelihood of hunger or malnutrition is completely excluded,” Svetlana Kondratenko emphasizes. – Thus, almost 100 kilograms of meat, 240 of dairy products, 95 of fruits and berries, 170 of vegetables, and 265 of eggs are consumed per capita per year. Almost 80% of the products in the Belarusian consumer basket are domestic. For such items as meat and meat products, SUGAR , eggs , and dairy products, it is almost 100%. The share of consumption of domestic confectionery, baby and dietary food, fresh and processed vegetables, and apples is growing. Our food is distinguished by its maximum focus on customer needs and affordability. More and more buyers in Belarus and other countries are choosing affordable and high-quality Belarusian goods. We farm more efficiently! Science supports farmers. Scientists are working to create highly productive breeds of animals and poultry, and are developing new-generation machine systems. High-yielding varieties and hybrids of agricultural crops are being created. Much is being done to improve the biological safety of production and introduce technologies for deep processing of raw materials.

State and scientific support made it possible to increase the EXPORT of high value-added products and increase sales of Belarusian food products on the world market.
– The head of state has set a task to ensure grain production at the level of 10 million tons. The task is complex, but feasible for most farms. If we take as a basis a scientific approach to organizing work, stable material and technical support, impeccable compliance with technological production regulations, – lists Doctor of Economics Svetlana Kondratenko, drawing attention to the following trend of the world market: – The food situation in the world remains difficult from year to year. It is associated with the emergence of new serious risks, climatic cataclysms, Western restrictions on trade in critically important resources and technologies, provoking food shortages and rising prices for it in countries dependent on imports. Thus, the availability of food in the world is decreasing, and the demand for it is growing. I am convinced that the growth of high-quality Belarusian food products on world markets, as well as the promotion of domestic agricultural technologies, will contribute to solving the food problem at the global level.
We continue to work on building production and distribution chains within the Union State, the EAEU and the CIS.

- Working in close cooperation makes it possible to jointly confront global challenges to food security. The country is also looking for and finding new partners in CHINA, African countries, Latin America and other regions. Not only food is already being supplied there, but also agricultural machinery, technologies, as well as the knowledge and competencies of scientists and practitioners. We will have to continue working to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the domestic agro-industrial complex, the growth of the economy of each enterprise in the industry, and the search for access to marginal foreign markets, - Svetlana Aleksandrovna emphasizes.
Belarus is among the top five global exporters of dairy products along with New Zealand, the EU , the usa and Australia. We are 3rd in butter, 4th in cheese, 5th in dry milk exports.

Tamara MARKINA