MULTI-CRITERIA ASSESSMENT OF FOOD SECURITY: THE IMPACT OF INTEGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE PROCESSES

Filimonova Irina Viktorovna, Komarova Anna Vladimirovna, Shiyan Ekaterina Alekseevna, Dolganov Alexey Aleksandrovich

The article examines food security as a multidimensional phenomenon that is shaped by economic, social, institutional, and natural-climatic factors. The paper substantiates the need to improve food security assessment tools, as existing methods and indices have limitations. The authors propose an integrated food security index based on four aspects. The index is calculated for 64 countries worldwide over the period 1992-2023 and is used for comparative analysis across macroregions, levels of socioeconomic development, and income. The results demonstrate a persistent gap between developed and developing economies and highlight the structural vulnerabilities of food systems related to social inequality, import dependence, and climate risks. The practical significance of the results lies in the potential use of the proposed index for monitoring, comparative analysis, and the development of national and regional food security strategies.

Keywords:Food security; food systems; integral index; aspects of food security; macro-regions of the world; socio-economic development; income level.