Less-favoured agricultural areas in the Upper Rhine

Less-favoured agricultural areas are territories with specific (economic, agricultural, physical and demographic), natural and permanent handicaps linked to terrain, altitude, slope and soil, in which the maintenance of agricultural activity is necessary for the maintenance of the natural area (see Directive 75/268/EEC). They carry the public policy of supporting agriculture (ICHN aid) in its environmental and social functions, which make it an important contributor to the sustainable development of the economy. Compensation for natural handicaps (ICHN) contributes to the maintenance of a viable rural community in less-favoured areas and thus helps to balance the occupation of the territory by economic and human activities. The classification, in whole or in part, of municipalities in less-favoured areas is determined by decrees of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is broken down into five types of less-favoured areas: high mountain, mountain, dry mountain, foothill and simple less-favoured areas.