A reform to ensure landowners earn fairer annual rent and halt the eviction of farmers from agricultural land will be presented for first reading in Parliament on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo said.

The reform will amend the Lease Renewal Act that provides legal definitions to a landlord’s rights to regain his land and a tenant’s rights to maintain that land.

The reform was announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday.

Ever since a court in 2020 declared that the rural leases law is unconstitutional, dozens of farmers have ended up in court, with private landowners challenging the so-called qbiela law.

In 2021, an exercise by Times of Malta found that one tumolo of land was being advertised for at least €40,000.

Advertised prices spiked to €266,000 for two tumoli of arable land in Rabat and €1.5 million for three tumoli with one large room in Siġġiewi. Farmers looking into acquiring arable land were being asked for up to €80,000 per tumolo, and this is unaffordable for most, as an average of 12 tumoli are needed to start a full-time agribusiness.

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That same year, cabinet approved changes to agricultural lease laws in a bid to ease the transfer of land between family members, but this only applies to public land.

Farmers say that court cases threatening their eviction from land their family has tilled for generations is leading to heightened mental stress and anxiety they have not experienced before.

Refalo said on Tuesday the reform will address the influx of court cases against farmers and protect them, the landowners, and the country’s food sector.

“There are around 100 such cases and this amendment stops the influx of these cases,” he said.

The situation in the past two years - namely the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - has highlighted the importance of securing the food supply, Refalo said addressing a press conference at Buskett.

The reform, he said, is proposing the valuation of agricultural land as such and not according to the market price of land in general.

It allows land owners to push for changes in the conditions of the terms of their lease, especially when it comes to increasing the rent price.

With the new reform, farmers will rest assured they will not be evicted from the land they tilled encouraging them to continuously invest in agricultural production.

What does the white paper propose?

Refalo said the Agricultural Land White Paper tackles a number of issues - from safeguarding agricultural land to the registration of such land leases.

The white paper proposes the setting up of an authority to safeguard private agricultural land. This will fall under the Agriculture Ministry and will include experts and professionals in the field.

The authority will have four main responsibilities:

• Keeping a record of sales, rentals, and use of private agricultural land;
• Ensuring that agricultural land is worked and used for agricultural purposes;
• Incentivising the acquisition of private agricultural land by active farmers making use of the agricultural land leased to them, by giving them the right of precedence to purchase that land if the owner chooses to sell it;
• Acquiring land offered for sale so that this is later allocated to active farmers.

The white paper proposes the establishment of a fair rent price after taking into account the land's value.

Rent reviewed by the board should not exceed 1.5% of the land’s free value in the open market per year. It also proposes that the lease agreements shall be for a minimum of eight and not more than 16 years.

This should ensure that lease fees are stable to ensure the farmer’s peace of mind.

A distinction of farmer’s status

Another proposal is for the provision of a proper definition of a farmer’s status.

It proposes distinguishing between active farmers, hobby farmers, and newcomers entering or attempting to enter the sector.

This will help ensure that land is managed and owned by genuine farmers.

The farmer’s status and the link to the farming activity will determine preference. Different criteria will be used for young people wishing to enter the sector.

Tax measures

The white paper also proposes exemptions from inheritance tax if the land is leased to the farmer and fiscal incentives for landowners who lease their land to farmers.

Public consultation on the White Paper is open until November 8.

Submissions can be sent to publicconsultation.mafa@gov.mt 

The white paper can be accessed on the agriculture ministry's website