Ecosystem approach as a tool for solving meat market problems

Abstract

he article is devoted to identifying factors and solving problems related to the fact that the Russian consumer market of meat and processed products remains one of the most vulnerable sectors of the economy.The  research  uses  general  scientific  methods:  complex,  systematic  and  situational,  as  well  as  graphical methods, comparative analysis, index methods, forecasting methods, factor analysis, correlation analysis.It  is  shown  that  the  high  rate  of  concentration  of  the  agricultural  sector  of  the  Russian  economy  leads  to  a reduction  in  the  total  number  of  active  agricultural  organizations,  the  absorption  or  squeezing  out  of  this industry  of  small  enterprises  and  the  self-employed  population.  This  leads  to  the  emergence  of  a  small number of agricultural giants and a decrease in the efficiency of using acreage and other agricultural land. It is proved that the growth in the size of agricultural organizations and an increase in the share of agricultural land controlled by them leads to a decrease in the share of agricultural areas for forage crops, a reduction in the  number  of  cattle  and  a  drop  in  beef  production.  The  expediency  of  applying  an  ecosystem  approach  in the agricultural sector is proved. This approach makes it possible to use natural and human resources more efficiently based on the principles of the distributed use economy — the sharing economy.The  conclusions  drawn  from  the  results  of  the  study  are  important  for  theorists  and  practitioners,  as  they complement the existing knowledge necessary to solve problems related to ensuring sustainable development of the agricultural sector of the economy and meeting consumer demand.