We can’t get enough of food-related turmoil – such as logistical issues during the COVID pandemic at the Italian port our country imports most of our food from, astronomical price rises of cereals due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and shipping price increases due to other logistical dynamics such as container shortages.

Additionally, there are new EU trucking laws leading to a spike in costs for haulage companies, an upcoming environmental shipping tax and the recent spat between local political figures concerned with the potential abuse of food importers giving rise to food inflation. On this latter point, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana admitted that Malta’s markets are largely made up of cartels due to our small market and lack of competition.

This is a malady which is a result of decades of neglect of our food-producing sectors. Logistical troubles abroad, transport regulation and lack of competition have all impacted our food sector and the weapons we wield to address these problems are weak.

But, notwithstanding this David and Goliath situation, our food producers are unwittingly preventing this situation from spiralling further out of control. The local sectors and their produce provide pricing checks and balances that serve to rein in and control a potential cartel. But this can only happen for the food that is produced locally – for all those items with no local alternative we’re at the mercy of logistics…and cartels.

Hence, the justified claim that agriculture is a sector that serves the public interest and should be supported well. Food producers provide more food security to our nation, which is a good thing.

In light of this, and without going into the ridiculous practice of continuing to build on agricultural land because the local plans permit us so, I would like to shed some light on an important recent development that has the potential to facilitate the entrusting of the country’s resources in the hands of food producers.

Riżorsi Agrikoli Malta, set up some days ago, will be responsible for the cultivation and safeguarding of agricultural land and will also be purchasing agricultural land offered for sale by owners to then allocate this land to be worked by farmers – a highly commendable initiative with very promising potential.

This agency was promised in a White Paper launched last year by the government and its remit will also be to ensure that agricultural land is worked and utilised in line with its agricultural purpose. That is exactly what needs to be done if we are to increase our food production and try to get out of the difficult situation we find ourselves in, namely the unhealthy dependence on international logistics and dangerous cartels.

The Lands Authority has no clue what the priorities of the agricultural sector are- Malcolm Borg

However, we have a twist to this story. Half of the country’s agricultural land is owned by the government and is within the remit of the Lands Authority, not the newly launched agency, leading to a bizarre situation where half of the country’s agricultural land is managed by one authority utilising one set of rules while the other half is managed by a different agency using different rules.

This fragmentation in land governance is a recipe for disaster. The Lands Authority has no clue what the priorities of the agricultural sector are, no idea of where the sector needs to go, is completely detached from farmers and their needs and specialises in convolutions of processes that create one dead end after another for farmers.

From extreme delays in processing farmers’ land transfer applications, for example, to utilising legal loopholes to transfer land to undeserving individuals, from snail-paced execution of essential reforms for land tenure to hard-headedness in its rewarding of agricultural land to the highest bidder via a tendering process even when the same White Paper mentioned above promises a halt to this illogical process –the Lands Authority is a farmer’s worst nightmare.

Furthermore, I am not aware of any cases where this authority questioned the agricultural activity of a person holding tenure, even when simple inspections could be conducted to establish the facts.

Doesn’t it stand to reason though? Wouldn’t the nation be better off if all our food-producing land, private or government-owned, is governed by an agency that is solely responsible for the sound management of agricultural land and which is directly involved in managing and directing our food-producing sectors? Wouldn’t it make more sense if all our agricultural land is managed and governed using the same rules and procedures?

Food-related turmoil around the world will get worse. The trends are worrying. We need to put our house in order when it comes to our food producing. We need to produce more food and need to have a sound governance structure to ensure that this is done.

Malcolm Borg

This is beyond the Lands Authority’s remit and the newly set up agency should be responsible for this.

Malcolm Borg is the coordinator of the Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi.