Germany news: Minister sounds alarm on food security

German retailers have been reporting sluggish early Christmas business, with a majority expressing disappointment over the season so far.

A survey by the German Retail Federation (HDE) said 60% of 300 companies described the final week of November as weak, while about 25% were satisfied.

HDE chief executive Stefan Genth said Saturday had provided "a bright spot" with better turnover and offered some hope for stronger weekends in Advent. The survey was conducted from 28 to 30 November.

Only 14% of retailers said they were satisfied with the overall season to date, mainly in sectors such as toys, watches, jewelry and consumer electronics.

About 70% of respondents reported fewer customers than last year. One in five companies, however, expected more activity in the coming weeks. Genth said the final stretch before Christmas often determines whether many retailers can meet their targets for the year.

The HDE expects total sales of €126.2 billion ($146.3 billion) for November and December, which it said would be an increase of 1.5% from last year.

The interior minister of the central German state of Hesse has praised the police operation surrounding the launch of the new far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) youth organization in Giessen, saying officers prevented severe violence.

Christian Democrat politician Roland Poseck said the city could have faced "the gravest acts of violence and near–civil war conditions" without the large police deployment.

Poseck said police had stopped further escalation and, with a major presence, largely protected both the right to assemble and the physical safety of those involved. He added that some forms of protest against the AfD caused serious political concern.

He said the majority of demonstrators had been peaceful, but the "potential for violence was very significant." According to Poseck, acts of violence and breaches of the law harm democracy and ultimately benefit its opponents.

Protest groups accused police of using heavy force during demonstrations against the relaunch of the AfD youth wing. The alliance "Widersetzen" (meaning Oppose) said officers "cleared the way for fascists."

Germany has been seeing a steady increase in children born through assisted reproduction, with new figures showing how widespread in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become.

The 2024 yearbook of the German IVF Register reported that 19,976 children were born after treatments that began in 2023.

A total of 433,858 children have been born through IVF since 1997. The book also noted that data from 139 of the 143 member centers were included in the latest report.

The yearbook stated that "one or two children in every German classroom" have now been conceived with medical support. It added that the total number of IVF children is comparable to the combined population of Saarbrücken and Chemnitz.

Since 1997, the register has recorded more than 2.6 million treatments.

The history of IVF began with the 1978 birth of Louise Brown in Oldham, England. Her arrival marked the start of modern assisted reproduction.

Federal Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer wants to include farms and food producers in future emergency and disaster drills conducted by the German military.

"For me, food production is definitely a critical infrastructure that must be protected," conservative Christian Democrat Rainer told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The politician said it was "absolutely right" for the Bundeswehr to train for a potential attack on the Berlin subway.  However, he said: "We must not forget one thing: if primary production, agriculture, no longer functions, if we no longer have enough animal feed, if water for livestock is no longer available, then we would have a much bigger problem," the minister warned.

"Our food supply would collapse." For that reason, agriculture "definitely" needs to be part of security exercises.

Rainer also called for the federal government's emergency food reserves to be expanded to include ready-made canned meals.

The roughly 150 storage sites are well stocked and sufficient for 30 days, he said.

However, they mainly contain products such as grain, peas, lentils, and canned milk, which cannot be consumed immediately. Therefore, he said, reserves also need to include canned ready-to-eat food.

Guten Tag from DW's newsroom in Bonn, on the banks of the lovely Rhine River.

Danke schön for joining us to find out what Germany is talking about.

You join us as Germany sounds the alarm over vulnerability when it comes to food security.

Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer says farms and food producers must be included in future Bundeswehr emergency exercises, calling food production "critical infrastructure" that must be protected.

He warned that disruptions to animal feed or water supplies could trigger a collapse in Germany’s food system.