MINSK, 5 September (BelTA) – Belarusian agriculture is self-sufficient and competitive, economic analyst Georgy Grits told the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA's YouTube channel.
“Some people would say: why grow something if we can buy it, the global market regulates everything, we need to integrate into some global value added chains and that will do. And what has happened to these globalization principles? Everything has collapsed at once,” said Georgy Grits.
In his opinion, the food market today shows the most dramatic contrasts. “20% of the world's population is chronically malnourished, and 10% are starving. 24,000 people die every day, 75% of them are children under the age of five. Here are the statistics,” the economic analyst said citing the figures.
“Today food, agricultural production are becoming an element of national security or even of national identity. A country that can provide itself with food differs sharply from other countries,” Georgy Grits stressed.
Sustainability is also important. “We are not dependent on migrant workers. We even have a surplus of fertilizers, and this has become our competitive advantage. Our agriculture is self-sufficient and competitive, including in terms of cost. Agriculture and the food industry account for 12% of GDP. Half of it is generated by growing of agricultural products, the other half by the processing industry. Today, the agricultural industry and processing are becoming a focal point, a point of growth for Belarus,” the expert noted.
