Around 40 pig farms have closed down over the past four years and local pork production is down 30 per cent, the PN said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said herders were angry at the government for allowing food fraud in the local meat market.  

“Pork, chicken, and eggs sold as Maltese are in fact frozen products from outside the European Union,” the PN statement read. 

“Let’s take care of local products because we risk food security in our country. We cannot depend entirely on imported products.”

PN spokesman Peter Agius and electoral candidate Charles Azzopardi said local growers, farmers, and herders need support.  

Dramatic decline in pig farms

Speaking from a Mġarr pig farm, Agius and Azzopardi said the Labour Party had, in its 2017 electoral manifesto, pledged to help herders 

But that support was not forthcoming, and as a result the number of pig farms fell from 134 in 2017 to 93 today.  

“More than 40 pig farms have failed under the Labour government,” Agius said. 

Over the past nine years, local pork production has dipped by a third from 110,000 kg every week, to 85,000kg - a 30 per cent drop. 

Meanwhile, imported alternatives are on the rise, the PN said.  

Labour had also promised financial aid for the purchase of feed, however, there has so far been no direct support, despite prices rising by around 30 per cent in the past 12 months. The price of feed rose again this week, marking the fourth such price increase this year.  

PN proposes aid for herders

The PN said a Nationalist administration would use EU law to empower local pig farmers. 

A PN-led government would conduct a thorough study into feed prices to inform policy decisions to help herders and would tap into a proposed €40 million fund to help level the playing field for the agricultural sector. 

Ultimately, the PN in government would be tough on food fraud, the PN speaker said.