In the modern world, food security is recognized as physical and economic access to food products necessary for human life and their production in sufficient quantities. Physical availability is considered as the availability of products of sufficient quantity and quality.Economic availability implies that a person should have enough income to be able to satisfy the need for food at least minimally.
The negative consequences of the ongoing economic transformations in Georgia directly affected food security. With a sharp decrease in the volume of agricultural production, the level of production of food products also fell.
Compared to 1990, in 2019 grain production decreased - 1.7 times, including wheat production - 2.6 times, corn - 1.3 times, potatoes - 4.5 times, vegetables - 2.8 times, meat - 2.5 times, milk - 1.2 times, eggs - 1.2 times. The yield is low, namely wheat - 23 pcs., corn - 2 pcs., potatoes - 123 pcs., vegetables - 88 pcs. Breeding productivity is also low, in particular, it amounts to 1543 kg per hen, 140 eggs per laying hen.
According to the level of food consumption, a peculiarity was observed: despite the sharp decrease in production, the rate of consumption per head of the population increased.For example, meat consumption was 36.5 kg in 1990, 40 kg in 2019. While in 1990, 31.2 kg were produced per head of the population, 79, and in 2019, 19.5 kg. The difference in the first case is 5.2 kg, in the second case 20.5 kg was covered by imports. It should be noted that in 1990 the population was 5 million 456 thousand people, in 2019 it was 1 million 739 thousand less.
Food security in the country is associated with high risks, this is confirmed by the following data. In 2016-2019, on average, 596.25 thousand tons of wheat were imported to the country, 108 thousand tons were produced locally. Accordingly, meat 85.3 thousand and 69.5 thousand tons, vegetables 98 thousand and 142 thousand tons, milk and dairy products 130 thousand and 546 thousand tons.
It is significant that we import such a product, the favorable production conditions and traditions of which we have in place. For example, in 2019, vegetable oil worth $44.6 million, sugar $58.3 million, fruit $78.2 million, tea $9 million, fish and seafood $36 million, poultry meat $78 million were imported into the country. The high share of food products in the country's agrarian market (70-75%) indicates the high risks of food safety.
The established trends in the country's food security, introduced by imports, show that the problem is complex and requires a systematic approach. The function of providing the population with food is the exclusive function of the state as a political entity. Considering that more than 85% of the country's land stock is still owned by the state, the growing role of the state in food security becomes clear.
In order to reduce food security risks and create a stable situation in this direction, it will be necessary to implement emergency measures, namely:
- It is necessary to analyze the current situation, reserves, prospects for the use of new technologies, resource potential of regions, market conditions and determine their production possibilities for the period up to 2030, according to the 10 main food products that determine the level of food security.
Measures should include not only the rational use of land resources, but also a high level of production and labor organization based on modern technologies.
Although the importance of food security seems to be easily perceived and understood at different levels of public life, the attitude towards it is still far from ideal, which cannot respond to the challenges and risks that pose to the country's security in terms of food security: the dynamics of the growth of agriculture, and in general the production of local agro-food products lags behind the requirements of the time, with individual food products, where the country really has the production potential, the level of self-sufficiency (meat, wheat, oil, etc.) is low or critically low. Moreover, the level of self-sufficiency is determined in relation to the available resources, while the ratio of the volume of these resources to the level of providing food products for the entire country's population at a rational level is only about 50-80 percent. Low labor productivity and, accordingly, relatively low wages, despite individual segmental successes and breakthroughs in terms of productivity, introduction of new technologies, investment attraction and remuneration, which have not yet acquired a systemic character, create a rather fertile ground for the migration of the most mobile, able-bodied part of the rural population to urban areas or abroad. This creates a problem for the country's security in other directions - demographic and military.
From the point of view of state security, increasing the competitiveness of imported dumped products in the context of the strengthening of the national currency in comparison with local production contains some danger.
The strategic direction of the state's economic and agrarian policy should be to increase the effectiveness of the use of all resources available in the country, including the land, the sharp increase in the motivation of the workforce, the connection with the land resource and other components of agricultural products, using the relevant economic and financial levers, including the subsidy system, with the formation of tax benefits and preferential credit system.
Food security is not only an important component of national security, but by its essence and influence on the physical and mental health of society members, their economic and social activity, and motivation, it has a significant impact on other components of national security as well, and accordingly, it requires much more institutional, organizational and financial support and provision.

Keywords: Agriculture, food security, food supply, agro-food products, self-sufficiency, imported.
JEL Codes: O13, Q10, Q18,

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