Food balance and regional reserves as tools of food security mechanism in regions

The subject of this article is the consideration the peculiarities of the application of regional instruments of food security in the context of decentralization of power. Proposed own approach to the formation of food reserves at the regional level to ensure food security as one of the priority tasks of regional authorities in the period of modern transformation processes. Based on the analysis of factors of the food market of the regions of Ukraine, it can be stated that the reasons for the impact of negative factors on the level of food security are regional, so the territorial aspect determines the key factors of regional policy through the implementation of appropriate food security mechanism. With the same goal for all regions - to ensure the appropriate level of food security, the tools to achieve it will be different for different groups of regions depending on the indicators that determine the level of food security at each stage. The analysis of consumption of the main types of products in the regions of Ukraine for the last ten years shows that the population consumed only 66 percent of the rational norm of meat and meat products, 55 percent of milk, 58 percent of fish. Consumption of fruits, the need for which was met by only 60 percent, is insufficient. The main task of the food supply mechanism is to regulate the relations between the participants of the food market (producers, suppliers and consumers) to guarantee the proper level of food supply of the population of the region with quality and affordable food. It is concluded that the application of the balance method will allow not only to determine the percentage of domestic demand for own products, but also to identify ways to form consumption funds using internal or external sources. The formation of regional food reserves on the basis of the balance method will help to form an effective mechanism of food provision at the regional level in the context of decentralization of power and transfer the responsibilities to ensure food security from the central to the regional level