Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/899902
maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 10 News MATTHEW VELLA AGRICULTURE in Malta is dying a slow death, with the average age of farmers now being 55. It is a woeful assessment for such a vital, if embattled, sector of Maltese life and indus- try. "If we lose our farmers," says one stake- holder recently consulted in a study on the Maltese food chain, "we lose those people who are on a day-to-day basis in the coun- tryside, protecting it. We won't have people producing local vegetables and fruit." Away from the parched fields of the declin- ing Maltese countryside, the island's coast- line's skyline is pockmarked by rising towers. These milestones of Malta's newfound real estate wealth is the brusque flipside of the island's shrinking fishing and agriculture in- dustries – farming contributes less than 2% of gross domestic product, even though its value goes beyond the measure of GDP. In a new report by Friends of the Earth Malta on the local food chain, stakeholders say they fear Malta is now becoming com- pletely dependent on foreign imports. Gone is a consumer's concern for the quality of the local product thanks to cheaper imports. "Unless consumers and policy-makers re- alise that we are in a dire situation, unless something drastic is done, agriculture as we know it will disintegrate into a hobby sec- tor," says one agricultural expert quoted in the FOE report. The problem is that not many young people are taking up the profes- sion, and those who do face many challeng- es.FOE says that two of the main issues for young farmers are access to land and high investment costs. "Unless young farmers have access to fields already, for example, inherited through their family, they are faced with high costs for the procurement of land," says researcher Su- zanne Maas. A plot of 1 tumolo (1,124 sq.m or 0.1 hec- tare) costs approximately €20,000-€40,000 but a profitable agricultural business re- quires a much bigger plot of land than that. Adding to the land cost is the spend for other equipment: a tractor can cost €40,000 on its own. But while fragmentation of land means smaller fields are often unsuitable to be worked with large machinery, the need for manual labour is itself another challenge. "The inputs necessary to produce vegeta- bles and fruit, in terms of land, water, fer- tilizers and labour, come at considerable costs. Yet the local farmer has to keep prices down, hampering his ability to make a profit, in order to remain competitive with import- ed produce," Maas says – a reality that also has its origins in Malta's accession to the Eu- ropean Union. Before 2004, Malta had levies on the importation on food, as well as quotas on the quantity of imported products. When Malta joined the EU, these protective meas- ures disappeared, and farmers and produc- ers were suddenly competing with counter- parts across all Europe. A government official quoted in the re- port says farmers, before EU accession, were given the impression that their products would find new markets beyond the Maltese market, that they would increase sales. The actual reverse happened, Maas says. "They suffered from increased competition from imported produce." Up until 2014, Malta still benefitted from financial assistance to cope with the transi- tion, with subsidies on fruits and vineyards. Now within the standard Common Agricul- tural Policy framework, farmers are adapting to a new reality. Safeguarding farming in Malta requires urgent reforms, revealing study by Friends of the Earth shows, but changes are within reach Maltese farmers fear farming could become a hobby Maltese Agriculture Vital Stats Despite the high population density and a high percentage of developed land (29%), over 40% of the country's land surface area is classified as agricultural land. Average annual rainfall amounts to just 500mm/year with the majority (75%) of rainfall occurring between October and February, which means the summer makes it hard for growing crops. In 2013, total utilised agricultural area (UAA) amounted to 11,689 hectares of land, and 12,4666 agricultural holdings, three quarters of which have an area of less than 1 hectare. Only 2.4% of holdings have areas of 5 hectares of more. In 2012 agriculture contributed 1.6% of total GDP but there are 20,000 persons actively involved in agriculture, however, only 7% of this constitutes full-time farmers, the rest being part-time employment. The sector produces 75,000 tonnes of vegetables, valued at €33 million, and just short of 10,000 tonnes of fruit at a value of €7.5 million. A Maltese eco-farm: by selling directly to consumers, farmers get a better return for their product and increase awareness of local quality as opposed to foreign imports. PHOTO JAMES BIANCHI "Unless consumers and policy-makers realise that we are in a dire situation, unless something drastic is done, agriculture as we know it, will disintegrate into a hobby sector"