Food security: One area where Putin’s plans are bearing fruit (GZero)

GZero published an article stating that Russians are facing shortages of everything from smartphones and cars to paper. Still, experts say there’s one area where the country might be able to largely insulate itself from the sanctions that have otherwise ravaged the economy: food security. The Kremlin has been preparing for the possibility of more wide-ranging economic punishment from the West since 2014 after the invasion and annexation of Crimea. The first seeds of Russia’s move toward agricultural self-sufficiency were planted in 2010 when the country introduced a food security doctrine that laid out targets for domestic production of everything from salt and sugar to meat and potatoes. But that document wasn’t translated into actual policies at the time, said senior research fellows David Laborde and Joseph Glauber. The Putin administration has also proactively worked to get Russians to change their palate, said Laborde and Glauber. Instead of rapeseed oil, which is partially imported, Russia has encouraged the use of sunflower oil — the country is behind only Ukraine in the production of sunflower seeds. Similarly, beer — which relies on cereals that Russia produces — is replacing imported wine, they said, even as Russians are on the whole turning away from alcohol. “There is an economic rationale justifying these successes,” said Laborde and Glauber.