METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY OF FOOD: A NATIONAL ASPECT

Issue № 8, 2023, article № 1, pages 5-14

Section: Agricultural policy and state regulation of the agro-industrial complex

Language: Russian

Original language title: МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЙ ПОДХОД К ОЦЕНКЕ ФИЗИЧЕСКОЙ ДОСТУПНОСТИ ПРОДОВОЛЬСТВИЯ: НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ АСПЕКТ

Keywords: PHYSICAL AVAILABILITY OF FOOD, INTEGRAL INDEX, AGGREGATE INDEX, SUB-INDICES

Abstract: In the domestic and foreign scientific literature, there is a wide discussion regarding the indicators for assessing the physical availability of food. At the same time, it should be understood that the main goal of assessing the physical availability of food is to obtain objective information about the availability of retail, public catering and transport accessibility. The purpose of this study is to substantiate the system of indicators characterizing the physical availability of food at the national level and to develop a methodological approach to the formation of an integral index of the physical availability of food for the population of Russia. The need to develop such an indicator is due to the heterogeneity of the indicators used for evaluation, the lack of aggregate and intermediate integral indicators that characterize the level of physical availability of food. It is possible that the development of an integral indicator for assessing the physical availability of food at the national level will become the basis for comparing the Russian indicator with foreign ones. The study attempted to form a cumulative integral index characterizing the level of physical availability of food, which in turn consists of integral indices of the availability and provision of retail and public catering facilities, and transport accessibility. In turn, these indices consist of sub-indices calculated using the proposed methodological approach based on publicly available statistical indicators and having a logical connection with them. The proposed methodological approach is based on the use of the method of the sum of weighted arithmetic mean group indicators, the use of which is justified in this study. The proposed methodological approach has been tested by calculations that have a logical connection with the actual indicators of Rosstat, which characterize the level of physical availability of food.

Authors: Kolesnikov Andrei Viktorovich