We might have cooled down in an air-conditioned room during the recent heatwave but our food stood outside in the unforgiving temperatures exposed, as it always is, to the most varied of weather conditions and, as happens when the weather is extreme, plants and livestock die.

But our country is so deeply aslumber that whiffs of coffee are passing our noses day after day and we refuse to wake up to its sweet perfume. 

Climate change is wreaking havoc around the world and the toll on food production is very significant. From a flooded Romagna region in Italy, renowned for its fruit production, to reduced wheat yields in the US, scorched vegetables in Spain to increased pest attacks on crops the globe over.

Extreme weather events and other related climate phenomena are reducing the quantity of food that the world can produce, increasing prices as they do. And it’s not going to get any better – these extreme events will get worse and more frequent. Decreasing yields are leading countries to restrict food exports and do all in their power to sustain internal production.

During 2022, 32 countries imposed 77 export restrictions, some of which were also fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine war. And, in spite of the best intentions of international institutions to mitigate the impact of such restrictions and to try and eliminate them altogether, any country’s strategic decision will always point towards the ensuring of enough food for its people before agreeing to export its food.

Food sovereignty is becoming a political priority since access to food is becoming suddenly volatile and under threat from various quarters. The writing is on the wall for all to see and, for a country like ours that imports three-quarters of its food, it should send shockwaves through the system. 

But let’s look at our congenial micro-state. Cue a real estate promotion page and you’d be gobsmacked at the amount of food-producing arable land for sale for “recreational purposes”. The rising phenomenon of using arable land for recreational purposes is now well acknowledged as evidenced by the ever-increasing number of parked caravans in fields, flimsy fabric pergolas that offer shade to users, untended land and all sorts of applications for rural structures that will be used for anything but agricultural purposes.

Sacrificing our food-producing resource on the altar of market demand and quick bucks is sheer madness

And we predict this is just the beginning as people spending tens of thousands of euros on such land will now feel entitled for more convenience in their new property. One should also note that this is seriously compromising the landscape integrity of our country as the fields below Mdina, slowly turning into shabby, parcelled, recreational lots, can testify.

Sacrificing our food-producing resource on the altar of market demand and quick bucks is sheer madness. Large food producing countries are restricting food exports. We are happily weighing our coffers while food-producing capacity is getting poorer by the day. ‘Fields for recreational purposes’ is a phrase that has suddenly become part of our vocabulary. Food sovereignty, alas, no.

To add insult to injury, we continue taking up agricultural land in our continuous obsession to adhere to the local plans written 17 years ago because, God forbid, the government takes away a presumed right granted to someone by these plans to build their property. Labour opposed the new building zones proposed by the Nationalist government in 2006. Today, it has the power to revoke those plans. But it wouldn’t. Why?

The Żurrieq atrocious application to make available for development almost 12 tumoli of land is one case in point.  That the architect of the project is the same minister who pushed through the new delineations for development zones is, of course, an irrelevant detail.

Furthermore, the document used by the Planning Authority on guidance related to the building of rural structures is rife with loopholes many architects have become experts in exploiting. The list is endless – from ghost sheep farms to tool rooms equipped with beds and kitchens, stables used as car workshops and greenhouses converted into yacht yards.

The chronic lack of monitoring by the Planning Authority once the compliance certificate of a rural building is issued to ensure that the building is used for the original, intended purpose upon which the permit was granted is leading to a free-for -all and the continual wrecking and destruction of our countryside.

The situation is so ironic that it beggars belief. This is not a philosophical, ideological pursuit but a logical, strategic decision the country needs to take. In a few years’ time, our descendants will seek frantically to acquire food in a world with an unforgiving, extreme climate. We cannot enjoy political and economic sovereignty if we depend evermore on other countries for our supply of food. We must take the decision now – the soil we have must be used to grow food.

Mario Cardona

Mario Cardona is deputy principal of arts and social sciences at MCAST and a founder member of Koperattiva Rurali Manikata.  

Malcolm Borg

Malcolm Borg is in charge of the Centre for Agriculture, Aquatics and Animal Sciences at the Institute of Applied Science at MCAST and a coordinator of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi. 

The above article reflects the personal opinions of the authors.