From the Food Sovereignty Ensuring Strategy to the Strategy of Improving the Agro-Food Complex Competitiveness

In the conditions of the globalization of national economies, the current situation in macroeconomics and, as a result, the need to improve the quality of life of the population it is necessary to clearly outline and resolve the following three strategic tasks of the country’s agro-food complex: ensuring the country’s food sovereignty based on import substitution; improving the farm products competitiveness; ensuring high level standard of living at the rural area based on the social-economic development of the territories. The analysis of the government policy documents and concepts of developing the agricultural sector of economy has revealed the following. The state-run program for the farming sector development and regulation of the farmers’ market, agricultural raw materials and food in 2013–2020 is the main functioning tool, a primary factor of accelerated agro-food import substitution, and a foundation for the new national agricultural policy. At the same time, the program does not answer the question, how one can really improve the competitiveness of the domestic farm products. It does not outline the tasks and mechanisms to raise the standard of living for the rural population. The article considers the necessity to increase the agrofood sector competitiveness as a prospective strategic direction in the government export policy. It clarifies the key factors of the influence on the competitiveness of the domestic farm products, namely: at the macroeconomic level — equivalence of cross-sector exchange, subsidizing and credit financing of the agro-food sector; at the sectoral level — territorial and sectoral specialization in agricultural production and system of profit distribution between the producers, processors and retailers of the farm products. The article outlines the possible ways of employment assistance for the rural population being released as a result of improving the competitiveness of the agricultural production. It shows the advisability of formulating the single scientifically based interministerial document in the form of the national strategy and some relevant programs to improve the competitiveness of the country’s agro-food complex, employment and income of the rural population.