URBANIZATION AS A CHALLENGE FOR THE FOOD SAFETY OF A COUNTRY

Actuality of the research topic. A number of global trends affects food supply and consumption, as well as food security in the world. The main one is the growth of the world population primarily in emerging countries and urbanization of the population. Accordingly, the topic of food security in the context of urbanization becomes highly relevant. Problem statement. It should be noted, that urbanization changes the quantity and structure of food products, increases the demand for quality products, impacts on food security and economic security of the country in general. Review of recent research and publications. Urbanization is a very complex subject; so many well-known foreign and domestic scientists from different fields of science have studied various aspects of urbanization. At the same time, the vast majority of publications are mostly theoretical and cover the demographic and geographical aspects of urban processes, while the issues of economic analysis and the impact of urbanization on food security remain inadequately studied. Task statement, research methods. The article aims to study the process of urbanization in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to identify the impact of urban processes on the economic development of countries and food security in order to develop recommendations on prospects and opportunities for Ukraine. Presentation of the main material (results of work). The paper describes the main processes of urbanization, which take place in different countries and in the world as a whole, as well as in Ukraine. The influence of urbanization processes on the economic development of the countries is determined, namely, that the countries with high level of urbanization have high economic development and accordingly the high Gross National Product per capita. It has been discovered, that urbanization also affects the food security of countries, as the number of urban population increases, the structure of consumer products changes, and the demand for food increases as well. Summary. Urbanization represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the development of agriculture, as well as food security. Urbanization provides opportunities for Ukraine in the face of growing demand for food, to improve its export potential.