The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer ... - BMELV

12 13 The BMELV
Strong and Sustainable Rural Areas in Germany
Rural areas make up around two-thirds of Germany’s national
territory. About 70 percent of the population live outside major
cities; more than three quarters of all municipalities have fewer
than 5,000 inhabitants. The countryside is full of appealing and
growing regions. However, some parts of the population live
in structurally weaker areas that are confronted with high unemployment,
the exodus of the younger generation and demographic
aging of the local population. This calls for new ideas
in order to supplement tried-and-tested concepts, such as promoting
additional income alternatives. The Federal Ministry’s
aim is to maintain the diversity of rural areas, to boost their
strengths and economic power and to support social cohesion
through voluntary commitment.
Agriculture
Together with our forests, Germany’s landscape is characterised
by arable land, meadows and pasture land. Farmers manage
more than half of the total national territory. Around
1.1 million people are currently working full-time or parttime
in approximately 300,000 agricultural holdings and about
40,000 young people are being trained in green occupations.
This makes agriculture an important employer – yesterday, today
and tomorrow.
Germany’s agriculture is characterised by great variety in terms
of natural conditions, the different sizes and organisational
structures of agricultural holdings, the various production
methods used and the abundance of regional foods and raw