Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 24 ISSUE 3
Written by Monica Mihaela TUDOR, Vili DRAGOMIR, Marian BUȚU

The Romanian system of small and medium farms generates significant amounts of agricultural raw materials, an important part of which remains outside the market. On the other hand, Romania registers ever-increasing deficits in the trade balance with food products for which, however, it would have sufficient potential to be covered from national resources. In the current context of frequent crises and external shocks affecting the flow of goods and the availability of food globally (pandemics, armed conflicts, blockages in international transport, price volatility resulting from the growing demand for food for food from an increasingly large global population), increasing autonomy in ensuring food from internal sources appears as a necessity for ensuring economic and social stability. Agricultural policies are called to contribute to this goal by supporting a better integration of Romanian farm products in national agri-food chains. The paper aimed to carry out an assessment of Romania's vulnerability to food insecurity caused by dependence on agri-food imports during the 2013-2022 period, supplemented by an analysis of the contribution of the National Rural Development Plan 2014-2020 to the reduction of this risk. The study caried out an literature review on the analysed topic and a descriptive analysis of secondary statistical data provided by the National Institute of Statistics - regarding the trade balance and by the Payments and Interventions Agency for Agriculture - regarding the public intervention through NRDP 2014-2020. The study showed that, during the analysed period, Romania consolidated its position as a supplier of agricultural raw materials with low added value and, on the same time, its dependence on processed food imports significantly increased. NRDP measures have had low effectiveness in reducing food insecurity risks. The authors recommend re-shaping of public policy to support the local processing sectors for which the trade balance registers the largest deficit and for which Romania already supports the increase in the performance of primary production.

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