POL'NOHOSPODARSKA POLITIKA A INFORMACIE V PROCESE EKONOMICKEJ A POLITICKEJ GLOBALIZACIE

The world agriculture and food production sector is frequently discussed as a strategic component of the world food supply chain. The estimated 800 millions undernourished people all over the world are underlying the social and political role and responsibility of this sector. According to the available statistics, overwhelming majority of the undernourished people live in the developing countries. However, agriculture and food production is not only a problem of these countries. The developed countries as well as the countries in transition should study their own food production situation carefully, too. For this, some additional statistical information is needed. To derive such information it is needed to use some more sophisticated and purposefully focused statistical surveys (income/expenditure surveys). The average figures on country, or regional level are not sufficient. According to the available statistical information, there is a sufficient amount of food available for the total population of the world. However, the more detailed study and better understanding of the statistics are showing the extremely high inequality in food distribution and access to food. While some highly developed countries are faced with the problem of food abundance, there are many developing countries faced with severe shortage in access to food. It should be underlined that the problem of access to food and/or shortage of food cannot be interpreted as a production problem only. This problem should be studied rather as a consequence of the insufficient availability of the financial means for obtaining the adequate volume of food. This means the strategy for the future development in the agriculture and food sector -how much to produce and where- should be based on the qualified and detailed knowledge of the appropriate explanatory variables