Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Due to the world’s worsening security situation, countries are preparing themselves to become more independent. Except focusing on military rearmament, basic necessitates must also be prioritized. A part of Sweden’s way of navigating through this difficult era is their National Food Strategy, a policy aimed to increase and reinforce Swedish food self-sufficiency. This study evaluates the first version of Sweden’s National Food Strategy and its impact on Swedish food self-sufficiency, addressing a research gap regarding the policy’s actual effect—particularly in comparison to a country without a similar strategy. A difference-in-differences approach was implemented on a panel data model, consisting of the self-sufficiency ratio for specific food products from Sweden and Norway. Sweden serves as the treatment group, having implemented the policy, while Norway functions as the control group, as it introduced no similar policy during the study period and shares key agricultural similarities with Sweden. The results showed no statistical significance, meaning that we cannot draw the conclusion that the policy has had any effect on Sweden’s self-sufficiency ratio of food. The study’s findings suggests that the implementation of the second version of the strategy is a necessary step to create a more resistant Swedish food security.