INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE FOOD SECURITY SYSTEM OF STATES IN THE CONTEXT OF GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICTS

The article is devoted to the priorities and directions of ensuring food security systems in countries experiencing geopolitical conflicts. The purpose of this article is to reveal theoretical and practical approaches to institutional support for food security in states facing geopolitical conflicts, taking into account national and international mechanisms for ensuring it. A set of methods was used to study this issue, namely: case study, analysis and synthesis, empirical-statistical and comparative analysis. The results of the study showed that food security is one of the most vulnerable elements of national stability systems in conditions where a country is involved in geopolitical conflicts and is subject to armed aggression. A summary of international experience shows that most often the focus of measures and actions by regulators at the national and international levels is on humanitarian issues, in particular overcoming food restrictions, maintaining acceptable income levels, and providing technical, financial, and informational support to agri-food producers, etc. It has been found that the implementation of international aid programs in their current formats is a rather difficult task. The most common constraints and difficulties include ensuring access to international aid for the population in need, ongoing hostilities, the risks of sieges, checkpoints, minefields, and the presence of armed groups. Institutional pitfalls also arise in cases of misuse of significant amounts of international aid in conflict zones due to local government corruption, criminal actions by armed groups, or unscrupulous intermediaries. The theoretical significance of the study lies in deepening the understanding of the contradictory interaction of regulatory mechanisms at the national and international levels in addressing food security issues. The practical value lies in the search for effective mechanisms to mitigate food security risks during the war between Ukraine and Russia. Prospects for further research lie in summarizing successful regulatory practices of states in overcoming food crises in the context of geopolitical conflicts and, on this basis, substantiating recommendations for optimizing the mechanism for supporting the food security system in modern Ukraine.