The particularities of agriculture, as a sector which ensures food supply, result from many factors, including the multilateral interaction between the environment and human activity. The extent of human intervention in the food production process is usually measured with the amount of capital expenditure. Therefore, the food production potential and the resulting food security depend on both natural and economic factors. This paper identifies the current status of food security in different countries around the world, considering both aspects (physical and economic availability) combined together. The variables published by FAO were used together with a variable estimated based on the author’s own methodology to identify 8 groups of countries characterized by economic development level, net trade in agricultural products, and selected variables related to agriculture and food situation. As shown by this study, the degree to which food security is ensured with domestic supply varies strongly across the globe. Domestic production provides a foundation for food security in wealthy countries, usually located in areas with favorable conditions for agriculture (including North America, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan) and in countries which, though characterized by a relatively small area of arable land per capita, demonstrate high production intensity (mainly European countries). International trade largely contributes to food security in Middle East and North African countries as well as in selected South American countries which are net importers of food products. The most problematic food situation continues to affect Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.

Although the beneficial impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the stabilization on farming income is undisputable, the distribution of benefits derived from the CAP between operators and regions gives rise to some controversy. The objective of this paper was to estimate regional differences in the benefits derived from the Common Agricultural Policy in Poland based on the partial equilibrium model of the European Union (EU) agricultural sector with simulated interventions. The expectations of farmers from different regions of Poland were represented as a non-cooperative game to define vectors of change in the agricultural policy. The theory of moves was applied to set the game between different groups of farmers. Our results demonstrate that both the 1st and the 2nd pillars of the CAP were more profitable to farmers from regions with a more advantageous agrarian structure and a higher agricultural potential compared to their peers from the regions with a fragmented agriculture. However, considering long-term development objectives of the Polish agriculture, the theory of moves outcome argues against compensating for these differences by increasing redistributive payments to farmers in less favorable regions. To prevent widening of regional differences and ensure the social and economic development of rural areas in regions with less favorable agrarian structures where agriculture is currently unable to compete, it would be critical to enhance conditions for alternative types of economic activities.

The paper aims to assess the differentiation of agricultural potential in EU-27 countries. Synthetic coefficient constructed using TOPSIS method, based on the FADN data was calculated. The values of the coefficient for analyzed countries was used to classify countries into four typology groups. The results show that the highest potential concern well developed countries of EU and two of the EU new member states – Czech Republic and Slovakia. While the lowest agricultural potential refers to Greece, Romania and Slovenia. These countries are characterized by relatively high deconcentration of agricultural production structure and AWU/ha numbers. Celem opracowania jest ocena przestrzennego zróżnicowania rolnictwa państw UE-27 ze względu na posiadany potencjał wytwórczy. W badaniach wykorzystano dane FADN, a do ich analizy posłużono się miernikiem syntetycznym skonstruowanym przy użyciu metody TOPSIS. Na podstawie wielkości mierników wyznaczonych dla poszczególnych państw wyodrębniono cztery grupy typologiczne odzwierciedlające poziom rozwoju rolnictwa państw w nich skupionych. Wyniki badań wykazały, że najwyższym rolniczym potencjałem produkcyjnym dysponują wysoko rozwinięte kraje UE-15, jak również dwa spośród nowych państw członkowskich – Czechy i Słowacja. Z kolei grupę o najniższym potencjale wytwórczym tworzą Grecja, Rumunia i Słowenia. Państwa te cechuje relatywnie największa dekoncentracja struktur produkcyjnych rolnictwa i najwyższe nakłady pracy.

The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union remains at the top tier of the union’s legacies with the aim of bequeathing a sustainable future for all. Series of actions geared towards reforming the environmental and climate goals of the CAP are constantly being taken. The objective of this paper is to verify if the environmental and climatic CAP measures proposed in Poland’s Strategic Development Plan for Agriculture, for the years 2023–2027, reflect farmers’ preferences regarding the structure of the CAP support. To achieve this goal, we model a hypothetical strategic game involving farmers from different regions. The outcomes of the game were derived from the ex-post analysis of EU funds, in the application for environmental and climatic CAP measures, in addition to the results of simulations of the partial equilibrium model for the agricultural sector (CAPRI). It was found out that farmers from regions with disadvantaged agrarian structures would find it more difficult to cope with new eco-schemes due to the fact that good agricultural practices are rather low in such regions. For the long-term development of Polish agriculture, the agrarian structures need to be improved, as this affects the emission of greenhouse gases. The varying preferences of farmers from different Polish regions in implementing eco-schemes can be balanced by increasing redistributive payments.