Innovative Development of the Russian Agricultural System Based on the Principles of Food Security

The paper presents the results of a comparative assessment of Russian macroregions in terms of food security. A set of indicators allows assessing food security in three main areas: (1) food independence, (2) economic, and (3) physical availability of food. For all federal districts, we analyze the indicators of achieving food independence (self-sufficiency) with food (in the context of the main food groups), indicators of the availability of regional products following rational nutritional standards, indicators of satisfying physiological needs for food, and “poverty” ratios and the structure of household expenditures for food. The authors investigate the change in these indicators due to the import substitution policy of 2014–2018. A ranged number of Russian macroregions was built according to the level of food security. The authors conclude that the challenges to the food security of Russian regions geographically distant from the administrative center of the state (the Far Eastern Federal District in the first place) are high. The effectiveness of import substitution in these territories is low. The authors formulate proposals to improve food security in the Far Eastern Federal District. The regional Ministries of Agriculture can use the proposed methodology for analyzing the level of food security to express diagnostics of the agri-food market of the territory and formulating management decisions aimed at achieving and maintaining the level of food security that meets the goals and objectives of Russia in the context of sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other geopolitical upheavals.