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Introduction

In Lower Saxony 83% of the population is rural, whilstBremen consists of two urban centres with a combinedpopulation of 661,300 inhabitants. Lower Saxonygenerates a higher share of its GDP from the primarysector (1.8%) than the German average, and the regionhas a relatively well-trained agricultural workforce andlarge, mainly arable farms compared to Germany as awhole. This region leads in Germany in intensive poultry,egg and pig production, and is also an importantproducer of potatoes, milk and sugar beet. However,broadband coverage in rural areas is still significantlylagging behind.

Environmental challenges in Lower Saxony and Bremenmainly relate to the decline of biodiversity, and windand soil erosion caused by climate change. The coastalregions of Lower Saxony and Bremen face an increasingflood hazard due to climate change.

Case Study – LOWER SAXONY AND BREMEN (GERMANY)Programming for the Green Economy

The German federalstate of Lower Saxonyand the city state ofBremen have acombined populationof around 7.1 millionand an area ofapproximately 47,925km2, of which 53.7% isfarmland and 20.6% isforest.

Policy Framework and background

The Lower Saxony government, local businessassociations, cooperatives and unions have formed asustainability alliance platform, with the aim ofpromoting innovation and green growth, since 2008 .The regional government announced that they aredeveloping a sustainable development strategy in 2015 ,and the new German national strategy was published inJune 2016 . Lower Saxony has also developed a plan toimprove animal welfare standards and practices, whichbrings together government agencies, agri-businesscompanies, the farmers’ union, research, NGO andchurch organisations.

http://www.nachhaltigkeitsallianz.de/1

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http://www.stk.niedersachsen.de/aktuelles/presseinformationen/landesregierung-beschliet-schwerpunkte-der-nachhaltigkeitsstrategie-fuer-niedersachsen-135994.html

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The Lower Saxony and Bremen RDP 2014-20

The 2014-20 RDP focuses on restoring, preservingand enhancing ecosystems related to agricultureand forestry, enhancing food chain organisation(including processing and marketing of agriculturalproducts), animal welfare and risk management inagriculture, and addressing social inclusion and localdevelopment in rural areas. Lower Saxony andBremen intend to improve biodiversity and waterand soil management through support for variousenvironmentally friendly management practices –including organic farming, reduced use of fertilisersand pesticides, and protection of habitats. Morethan 6% of farmland will be under funded contractsto improve biodiversity, more than 2% undercontracts to improve water management and some0.5% under contracts to reduce soil erosion. Supportfor environmental investments will complementthese annual, area-based payments. 130 publicbodies are projected to receive support for coastaland flood protection measures along rivers andestuaries. About 600 farms (1.5%) will receivefunding for investments – focused on better animalhusbandry and welfare, high-quality production, andimproved working conditions. In addition, about 800projects for the improvement of animal welfare willreceive support.

©Michael Gäbler

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https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/StatischeSeiten/Breg/Nachhaltigkeit/0-Buehne/2016-05-31-text-zum-entwurf-nachhaltigkeitsstrategie.html;jsessionid=967054A56A22A428B58EE53ACEA215C9.s6t2

RDP investment in green rural businesses

Agricultural investment programme (AFP)

This programme is investing in a competitive, sustainable,environmentally friendly, energy efficient multifunctionalagriculture with high standards of animal welfare .Investments must score points for their environmentaland climate objectives in order to get funding. Farmbusinesses can apply for up to 40% of the costs ofinvestments such as:

• higher animal welfare pig stalls;

• higher animal welfare cow stalls;

• covered and sealed slurry or manure pits;

• walled and leak-proof silage bale storage areas;

• water efficient irrigation;

• energy efficient buildings and technology;

• air filters to reduce ammonia emissions from intensivelivestock housing.

Food production and marketing (VuV)

This programme invests in actions to make the foodindustry more resource efficient. The applicants mustdemonstrate through an independent certifier that theyinvest at least 20% of the money in resource saving andreduce their resource use by at least 10%. The businessesare expected to use less energy and water and to reducewaste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Village development and energy efficiency

This programme will fund better services in rural areas,such as new or improved education, health and social carefacilities with wheelchair access, local shops, public andshared transport initiatives, and energy efficiencyimprovements. Apart from the direct businessopportunities, local green businesses will also benefitindirectly from more attractive living places that retainfamilies and working age skilled people, healthy happylocal populations, and more tourists and visitors.

Rural tourism

This programme will fund new or improved recreationaland cultural facilities, green spaces, and small-scale touristinfrastructure, which will provide local businessopportunities for green and low environmental impacttourism and recreation that gets added value out of thelocal natural capital.

Animal welfare

Support will be offered to farmers willing to makevoluntary commitments to improve animal welfare byinvesting in intensive livestock housing, for example bygiving pigs more space so that their tails do not have to beremoved and decreasing the number of chickens persquare metre. The pig programme sets a clear indicator ofresults (pigs with their tails intact) but does not tellfarmers how to achieve this goal, allowing them to usetheir own experience and initiative to create more animal-friendly and sustainable practices.

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42% of the rural population will be covered by localdevelopment strategies (drawn up by 40 LocalAction Groups) under the LEADER approach and 18%of the rural population is targeted to benefit fromimproved general services and infrastructure. 16%of the rural population will benefit from new orimproved broadband infrastructure. The graphicsbelow illustrate the EU priorities, measures andbudget allocations of the Lower Saxony and BremenRDP 2014-20.

Table 1: Budget allocation per RDP Priority

Source: RDP Summaries, ENRD, 2016

Source: RDP Summaries, ENRD, 2016

Table 2: Budget allocation per RDP Measure

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http://www.lwk-niedersachsen.de/index.cfm/portal/leistungsangebote/nav/0/action/kaba/ac/1025.html

Million EUR

http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/startseite/themen/natur_landschaft/foerdermoeglichkeiten/erhalt_und_entwicklung_von_lebensraeumen_und_arten_pfeil/erhalt-und-entwicklung-von-lebensraeumen-und-arten-pfeil-125118.html

http://www.ml.niedersachsen.de/portal/live.php?navigation_id=34151&article_id=121421&_psmand=7

The programme has created some eye catchingpromotional slogans and pictures :

Broadband

The broadband roll-out programme, which is managed bythe broadband competence centre, combines RDPfunding with EU regional development funds .

More efficient use of natural resources toprovide ecosystem servicesCoastal protection programme and flood protectionprogramme (HWS)

The coastal protection scheme is investing in protection ofcoastal agricultural areas from storm floods in Bremen.The flood protection programme is investing in theprotection of inland agricultural areas from floodingacross Lower Saxony and Bremen. Using the RDP measurefor preventing damage from climatic events, theseprogrammes will channel €610 million to 130 publicbodies in 2014 to 2020. They will receive support for allthe planning, surveying and consultations, to make surethe funds are used as economically as possible. This publicinvestment will secure the future of agriculture along thecoast and rivers, with protection adapted to climatechange.

A typical measure is to set back the flood dike and createa new flood overspill area in front of the dike, which canbring benefits both for agricultural risk management andfor wildlife.

Agri-environment-climate programme (AUM)

The agri-environment-climate programme is built on fivepillars consisting of farm-level actions (organic farmingand low-emission fertilisation), sustainable arablepractices, ecological elements on arable land, actions forpermanent grassland, grassland management, andactions to support migratory birds . €283 million will goto farmers and farmer groups under this programme in2014 to 2020. Arable farmers will be paid to increaseecosystem services and benefit wildlife on arablecropland, for example through flower-rich margins forpollinating insects and natural enemies of crop pests, andthrough organic farming methods. The fertiliser andpermanent grassland options will improve the ecosystemservices associated with higher water quality, includingbetter drinking water quality for Lower Saxony, whichrelies on groundwater sources. Farmers will beencouraged to work together in cooperative projects toincrease the environmental benefits.

Habitats and species preservation and restoration (EELAand LaGe), restoration of rivers (FGE) and lakes (SEE) andcoastal areas

These programmes fund nature restoration andmanagement that bring together farmers and foresterswith local authorities, NGOs, local businesses andcontractors , using the RDP measures for studies andinvestments in high nature value sites, and support forlocal strategies not developed under LEADER). The EELAprogramme funds the development and implementationof plans and concepts for Natura 2000 and otherprotected areas, and other plans to restore and managewildlife in Lower Saxony and Bremen . It will finance thebetter management and restoration of these specialareas, which will both benefit biodiversity and createnew opportunities for tourism and recreation, and localemployment for farmers, foresters and contractors. Theriver and lake restoration funding will support actions tohelp create more natural rivers and river banks , restorelake margins and reduce pollution running into lakes .

http://www.ml.niedersachsen.de/portal/live.php?navigation_id=28272&article_id=98191&_psmand=7

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©Lower Saxony Ministry of Food Agriculture and Consumer Protection

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Facilitating local dialogues and learning forlocal food and rural communitiesMaking it clear – from the shop shelf to the producer

This scheme uses the RDP cooperation measure tosupport the training of village facilitators all over LowerSaxony and Bremen, who are actively engaged in raisingenvironmental awareness at village level (measureM16.9). They will acquire skills to actively facilitate villagedevelopment, kick-starting processes to find creativesolutions to demographic change and the otherchallenges facing rural areas. The facilitators will engageyoung consumers and families to awake in them aninterest in their regional identity and in the positivedevelopment of the countryside . The programme wantsto generate spaces for local dialogues between farmingbusinesses, education services and tourism providers. Thefarmers and farm businesses will be able to get to knowtheir customers directly, and build local recognition oftheir farming and their products. This will help LowerSaxony increase the market for labelled local products,which is currently small compared to other Germanregions .

Advice, knowledge transfer, innovation andtrainingTraining for professional development (BMQ)

This scheme supports training for workers and advisors inthe forestry, horticulture and agriculture sectors, onenergy efficiency, climate change, business management,and other topics. As pointed out on the website , ongoingprofessional training is essential for green businesssuccess in agriculture and forestry. There is also adedicated scheme for farmers to receive one-to-oneadvice on water protection with the aim of improvingwater quality in the region.

http://www.noz.de/deutschland-welt/wirtschaft/artikel/661204/3500-produkte-mit-regionalfenster-wenige-aus-niedersachsen

http://www.ml.niedersachsen.de/portal/live.php?navigation_id=1363&article_id=5067&_psmand=7

http://www.lwk-niedersachsen.de/index.cfm/portal/foerderung/nav/519.html

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Key points

Lower Saxony is an intensive farming regionfaced with an ageing rural population andshrinking rural services, whilst Bremen is a largelow-lying mainly urban area.

The RDP allocates a significant share of thebudget in preventing damage to agriculturalareas from coastal and riverine flooding.

Investments in rural businesses are aimed atimproving their environmental and animalwelfare performance, generating both moresustainable business models and public goodsand ecosystem services.

A suite of RDP investment measures is aimed atimproving business efficiency and skills in theprimary production and processing sectors.

Significant funding is provided for ruraldevelopment initiatives that will improve lifequality and services in rural areas, tackling out-migration of skills, ageing populations and theloss of local services, and creating newopportunities for green businesses.