Prospects for Food Security in Romania - ScienceDirect.com

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Procedia Economics and Finance 3 (2012) 1262 – 1267

Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business

Prospects for food security in Romania Bogdan Bazgaa,* a

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 6, Romana Square, district 1, Bucharest, 010374, Romania

Abstract Food security is a global problem of humanity as it has profound implications worldwide. Hunger remains an issue of power, which under the FAO fight against the international community. For Romania, achieve food security should be a matter of continuing interest, the more so as agriculture and agricultural production itself is in decline highlighted, both in livestock recording decay, as well as detrimental to the plant with transition to massive imports of food. Open Selection access underand/or CC BY-NC-ND license. © 2012 The©Authors. Published byby Elsevier Ltd. Ltd. 2012 Published Elsevier peer-review under responsibility of Selection and peer review under responsibility Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business local organization. Markets Queries in Finance of and Business local organization.

the Emerging

Key words: food security, agricultural potential, price volatility, climate change, food insecurity

1. Introduction

In optical view of United Nations (UN), the concept of security - national and international (collective) - is a unit of the following dimensions: economic, food, environmental, community, demographic and military. All these dimensions of the concept of security and mutually condition each other. Two commonly used definitions of food security issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), namely, food security exists when all people, at any time have access physically, socially and economically sufficient safe and nutritious food in order to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active, healthy life. Food security means access

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected].

2212-6716 © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and peer review under responsibility of Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business local organization. doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(12)00306-1

Bogdan Bazga / Procedia Economics and Finance 3 (2012) 1262 – 1267

for all family members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes a minimum of ready availability of adequate nutritious foods and safe and to ensure the ability to acquire acceptable foods in ways acceptable socially (without resorting to emergency food supplies by scanning , theft, or other coping strategies). Globally there are a number of risks that could have a particularly severe impact on food security of vulnerable groups, which have a tendency to increase in recent years. These include: The risk of high and volatile prices, which limits food consumption, population, quality of diet, health and welfare spending in general. financial and economic shocks, leading to job losses, higher prices and reduced accessibility to credit and lower demand for agricultural products. Climate change impacts, including increased incidence of adverse events such as droughts and floods, the lower yields in developing countries will increase food insecurity. The risks of epidemic outbreaks, epidemic and epifitice likely to increase and expand along with urbanization, globalization and climate change. In the spirit of the above, we emphasize that famine became endemic in the world, with the increasing trend. According to FAO, number of hungry people currently in a chronic, is over 1.26 billion, up from 862 million estimated, on average, during 2000-2004. The existence and increasing food shortages is favored mainly by the following factors: population growth, disasters, drought, climate disruption (caused mainly by global warming), oil price rises, poverty, financial crisis, economic crisis, urban development, enhancing divide between production and consumption of food, etc. Solving the problem of world food and nutrition insecurity is one of the most important challenges of our time. Horn of Africa countries face the crisis triggered by several seasons of irregular rainfall, causing drought and the world is far from achieving the goal of halving the number of hungry and malnourished in the world by 2015. 2. Current and future food security in Romania After Romania's admission to NATO - as a member with full rights and obligations - politicians with responsibility for national security plan praised - rightly - given some participation of our troops in several parts of the world with the potential conflicts that Our country has turned into a security provider for other countries. But it would be "excellent" to make the same assessment and food security. Unfortunately, we are in a plane opposite to that assessment, as at present, Romania is a "net importer" of food and therefore food security. The most favored countries in terms of food security are those with agricultural potential capable of supplying large quantities of agricultural commodities and food than their national needs. These countries include Romania, which has a rich agricultural potential, which is below this place 5 between EU countries, able to cover the food needs of approx. 80 million people. One can appreciate that that's how the country can be - and most of them have - of course food independence. This comparative advantage that it is Romania is insufficiently exploited because, in the estimation of experts and national and international institutions in the field, ca.70% of the aggregate demand for food, existing market profile of our country, is to cover the importation of such products. In these conditions, the current state of Romania's independence and food security is unacceptable. Remember the same plan and forecast made by Nomura Bank of Japan, which emphasizes that the problem will worsen food in Romania. According to this, our country ranks 12 in world food in the risk generated - mainly - the volatitatea (vulnerability) food prices. (Table no. 1)

1263

1264


Table 1. Vulnerability to food price index for the first 40 countries with food risk

Source: Bussiness Inteligence nr. 5074/2011, pag. 33 Regarding vulnerability to diseases caused by food prices on the world market, Robert Zoellick, World Bank President, made the following account: "This is the case for alarm because the trend of rising prices causing suffering among poor people around the world.", But urged the international community to be aware of this risk and should not aggravate the problem by imposing measures such as banning exports or managed pricing. Also asked G20 leaders to consider nutrition as priority number 1 of 2011. The same plan of power issues, Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, noted that "agricultural markets have always been volatile, but if governments cooperate, extreme variations in price can be reduced and vulnerable consumers and producers can be protected". Entries above the current and future food security trends in Romania are supported by adverse developments of indicators which are characterized by feeding the population, respectively: average monthly consumption per person to main food products, the share of own consumption in total consumption of products food and foreign trade with agricultural products. 3. Food security situation in Romania Food security = amount of food needed to ensure people. For over four decades, the world and in Romania, have made remarkable progress in food production and food security. However, if food security progress is rather slow and depends largely on social and political conditions at some point.


Rapid changes taking place in government structure and authority in the global economy, the structure of agriculture and food industries local and global trade and the globalization and trade liberalization lead to rapid changes in consumer needs and the requirements on quality and food safety, food security, nutrition, legislation and control. Development of new technologies, the emergence of new knowledge about food and food come to satisfy all these requirements in a particular measure. Food security can be provided and by finding new solutions feasible to obtain food with high nutritional value by means of biotechnological but also by efficient use of existing natural resources, by exploiting the full potential of their goals is becoming more urgent the years to come. The main guiding ideas on the importance of the food security and agriculture as the main branch of the Romanian economy to ensure vital public resources and arguments, which help us in drawing the essential elements of impact, giving the side of safety on all levels social life: idividual, national, regional and global deserved place among the other similar size, especially in light of EU integration as Romania's national interest. These changes will have serious effects on the five dimensions of food security: Food availability, Price volatility, Population access to food availability, Food utilization Stability of food. For Romania, its sub-branches agriculture - growing plants and animals, agri-food industry, is one of the most important resources development. Also, by identifying hazards, threats and risks to food security, can predict the main vulnerabilities of agriculture and agri-food industry, which are the most diverse: vulnerabilities that directly affect the natural environment - soil, water, air, energy) stocking or excessive exploitation: underdeveloped infrastructure, mainly the critical one, starting with the production: agricultural machinery obsolete and physical storage space, enough energy networks developed transport network of food products unable to access European funds, which were established by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2007/2013. , increased fragmentation of agricultural land being majority owned by farmers (where only 4% of national arable land is owned by the top 50 agricultural producers operating and recovery potential, only 7 million hectares may be subject to EU funds since February, 4 mil.ha are of some subsistence farms; lack of adaptation of the legal status of farmers households at the micro-firm to qualify both for accessing funds for rural infrastructure development and improving living standards of farmers by financing national and accessing funds for agriculture funds Specific. Impairment of the technical and investment stagnation, destruction of assets (irrigation, plantations, machinery, livestock, etc..) In the opinion of many experts, the food security of a country is the most important dimension of national security. A State food security if it has sufficient availability of food and agricultural products, able to cover food needs for all people included in its borders and ensure at the same time, stocks needed for livestock, and water in case natural disasters, war, crisis, etc. Failure to ensure food security can generate internally, convulsions and social tensions, physical and psychological damage to people, can create economic and political instability, and may attract external diplomatic pressure, economic and political effects and unwanted dangerous to national security.

1265

1266


4. Conclusions In conclusion, price developments in recent years, per capita average consumption and self-consumption and foreign trade in agricultural products show a poor outcome on agricultural production, especially food security of the population. Increasing exploitation of agricultural potential can turn Romania into an independent state in the food security of the population, but also such security provider to other countries through a net exporter of agricultural products, raw materials and food. But this can be achieved only through appropriate strategies and policies to stimulate investment in this sector and increase performance and competitiveness of the agricultural sector as a whole and in all economic organizations in it. Moreover, the OECD believes that "investments in agriculture in developing countries will be particularly important for increasing the amount of food available, and to obtain income and creating jobs." Without a systemic approach and without proper financial support and investment strategies and policies together with agricultural and rural development performance, our country's food security can be strongly affected in the future. It should be noted that this will be amplified by global warming and climate instability in general, the deepening and broadening territory manifestation of drought and other natural phenomena have a negative impact on agriculture. We say that food safety is of utmost importance, its absence can generate internally, convulsions and social tensions, affecting physical and mental health of the population, can create economic and political instability and external pressure can occur diplomatic, economic, political, unwanted and dangerous effects on national security. Is there a food safety when a state has significant availability of agricultural products, plants and animals, able to ensure the needs of the entire population with agricultural commodities, provide the raw materials industry and not least, to create necessary conditions for conducting stock situations. Acknowledgements This work was cofinaced from the European Social Fund through Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU/107/1.5/S/77213

References

Bidu, Ioan, Troncota, Cristian, Coordonate de securitate, Editura A.N.I., Bucuresti, 2005 Tribuna

7. Maior, George Cristian, Noul Luning, P., Devliegere, F., Verhe, R., Safety in the agrifood chain, Wageningen Acad.Publ., Holland, 2006 Ionescu, Mihai, Dupa hegemonie. Patru scen


- Food Security Management at the European Level, 2nd WSEAS International Conference on Enviroment, Medicine and Health Science (EMEH 11), The World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society , 24 - 26 martie 2011, Playa Meloneras, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain -25 Septembrie 2010 Bucuresti, Romania Editia a II a - The Impact of Climate Chan -25 Septembrie 2010 Bucuresti, Romania Editia a II a it face alimentele mai scumpe?, Revista Economistul, Nr. 9/2011, pag. 25-27 Climate change, energy and food, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, (2008) Rome. Price volatility and food security, A report of The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, Rome, July 2011 Special Program for Food Security, FAO The importance of food quality and food safety for developing countries, FAO, Rome, 2009 The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011, Roma, November 2010 World Summit on Food Security, Resolution and final declaration, 16-18 November 2009 NATO glossary of terms and definitions, AAP-6 (V), 1995 www.insse.ro, accessed 15.03.2012 www.faostat.fao.org, accessed 20.03.2012 www.madr.ro, accessed 17.03.2012 www.presidency.ro/ National Security Strategy of Romania, accessed 02.04.2012

1267