Sufficient arable land for national supply? More than two-thirds of the highest quality agricultural land is located in urban or peri-urban areas.

According to Article 30 of the National Supply Act (LVG), the federal government is obliged to ensure the preservation of a sufficient area of CRA through spatial planning measures – as a supply base in severe shortage situations. The CRA Master Plan (2020) sets a minimum extent of 438,460 hectares. This area can ensure the supply of 2,340 kilocalories per person per day in a crisis for a total of 8.14 million inhabitants – corresponding to the population level of 2013. In 2023, the secured crop rotation area covered 445,680 hectares (net, see notes). This was 1.6% above the prescribed minimum value. The population grew to 8.82 million people by January 1, 2023 – 676,000 more than the population level originally used to calculate the minimum extent. Of the total CRA (476,791 hectares gross), 86,293 hectares (18%) are located in urban, 237,143 hectares (50%) in peri-urban, and 153,355 hectares (32%) in rural municipalities. Peri-urban areas are regions geographically adjacent to cities and agglomerations. Around two-thirds of the areas are therefore in regions with increased land-use conflict between settlement development and food security.