Updated 4.20pm, adds PN statement

Up to 75 per cent of farmers who till private land risk being evicted from their rented fields, an agricultural lobby group has warned, with landowners increasingly refusing to accept rental payments from their farmer-tenants. 

A growing interest in owning land for recreational purposes has led to the value of agricultural land shooting up, with landowners increasingly inclined to evict tenants and cash in on the boom. 

Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, which represents farmers, said it had seen another “wave” of tenant farmers’ rent payments being refused by landowners this year.

The farmers are still awaiting legislation, promised to be launched earlier this summer, that should guard them against the trend to end their land leases and put the fields back on the market, as more and more people flock to buy a picnic space in the countryside.

The government first announced that ministers had agreed on changes to agricultural lease laws in February, a few weeks before this year's general election. 

Missing: a promised White Paper

A White Paper concerning the issue was meant to be launched by the Agriculture Ministry earlier this summer. There has been no sign of it ever since the announcement, with the association describing it as “pending and overdue”. 

But the “procrastination” has opened a window for landowners to, once again, refuse rent payments due last month.

Asked about the timeframes, the ministry did not explain any delays and what the White Paper “on the reform of the use and management of agricultural land” would contain, simply saying “it is expected to be launched shortly”.

But with selling prices being more lucrative and attractive to private owners, and the thirst for outdoor spaces growing, the result is that farmers are being evicted from the land they have been tilling for decades.

Although the White Paper was “promised to be around the corner, we do not know which corner that is,” said Malcolm Borg, who coordinates the Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi.

It has been running after the new legislation to protect the land leases of tenant farmers ever since there was a “hint” of this a year ago.

“I will not believe it until I see it,” Borg said, concerned the situation was a “nightmare” that was growing “out of hand”.

Refusing eviction

Farmers generally pay their rent on August 15 but that week this year, another “wave” of payments was not accepted by landowners, who told them to leave the land, Borg said.

Had the government acted earlier, this would have been prevented, he continued. Landowners had taken a back seat, waiting to see what the government was planning to do – only to step up their own action when nothing happened. Unaccepted agricultural rent has now been deposited in court and is piling up as farmers refuse eviction.

This will lead to the start of court proceedings, adding to the many cases already pending, Borg said, maintaining the waves of refused rent were growing consistently year on year.

While he had no figures, he estimated that “close to 75 per cent of the farmers who till privately-owned land are now affected following this wave”.

The first court sentence that saw a farmer being evicted for this reason was almost 650 days ago, he said, and he has since been lobbying for State intervention to stem their plight.

“Time is of the essence”, Borg insisted, with new court cases, more uncertainty among farmers and more land being syphoned off for recreational use at “phenomenal” prices with every week that the White Paper was delayed.

‘Immoral’ prices

Borg was recently informed by an architect that a tumolo of land, adjacent to a road, with vehicular access and a room, was selling for €200,000.

“This is not only ridiculous and obscene, but also immoral,” he said, adding that the country was “shooting itself in the foot” from a strategic point of view, ultimately leaving a negative impact on Malta’s food security and sovereignty.

Although the association has been lobbying for the legislation, Borg had no details and could only assume what the White Paper would contain.

“I envisage it would set the framework for new legislation to protect farmers as promised by the policymakers, but how, we do not know yet.

“What is certain is that it will be quite unpopular with one party or the other. The government cannot sit on the fence on this and must take a stand. While it will try to strike a balance, this will have to be skewed towards one side.”

The association has suggested structured mechanisms adopted in other countries, such as capping the price of agricultural land, as well as controlling transactions and ensuring it is bought by real farmers, who will continue to cultivate it.

A trend that is leading to land being fragmented

Although the search for rural land for recreational purposes is not recent, this trend has gone to another level in the last two years, according to conservation architect Ruben Abela.

Since the 1990s, several planning applications for the construction of small rural rooms around Malta, and particularly in Siġġiewi, have been filed, with some eventually being surrounded by high walls and hard landscaping, Abela said.

But the more recent trend was mainly a result of the pandemic, stemming from the ban on travel; the need for open spaces beyond apartment walls; and more cash in hand not worth depositing in a bank.

“To add to this, our urban spaces have become a hell to live in and, at least at the weekends, one can enjoy some private open space,” he continued.

But the trend has also inflated the value of rural land. In 2019, it was estimated at roughly €25,000 per tumolo (approximately 1,100 square metres), soaring to the current value of €100,000 three years later, he said.

If the land includes a rural room, the value increases drastically, said Abela, who is specialised in land-use planning and environmental management.

Moreover, landlords were dividing their fields into smaller portions, sometimes of 150 square metres each, to sell them separately at a much higher rate.

This was leading to severe land fragmentation, and it would never be feasible to retrieve the larger portions in the future, warned Abela, who has occupied roles at the Planning Authority and Heritage Malta and founded the NGO Wirt iż-Żejtun.

A 'death toll for local farmers'

“The consequences are clear. This is the death toll on local farmers and on Maltese agricultural products,” Abela cautioned.

Most of those buying the land now had no interest in farming and those who still had some did not afford the prices it was being sold at.

Full-time farmers were “on the verge of extinction” since most people preferred less demanding jobs, and part-time farming was economically unfeasible unless products were grown for personal consumption.

“This is leading to environmental and economic impacts as we will rely on imported produce, which involves transportation and packaging waste, besides the fact that it is not as fresh as the local produce.

“The environmental and scenic consequences on the rural areas are already evident, with rooms and other structures sprouting in the countryside and high boundary walls blocking the open landscape,” Abela warned.

Create parks

On the other hand, an increasing trend in farming and gardening as a hobby was something the government should “act on quickly”, Abela advised.

He suggested incentives to encourage the creation of roof gardens, as well as the introduction of a community garden allotment scheme close to each town and village, where individuals are given a small parcel of land to grow their own produce.

“These are beneficial for the users’ personal health, for nature and the environment, as well as financially,” he said.

To slow down the take-up of rural land for recreation, the State should provide public rural recreational areas in the form of parks, with no need for new infrastructure but just the restoration of country paths, some signage to mark the routes and resting spots.

“There is no need to pour concrete on the dirt tracks and open up a take-away along the way,” Abela pointed out.

His suggestion was echoed by Frank Salt Real Estate director Grahame Salt, who also urged the government to acquire a large parcel of land and create a park “if this was becoming an issue”.

Like that, people would not be forced to buy their own field to have a picnic, Salt said, acknowledging that the demand for agricultural land for non-commercial purposes has picked up in the last five years.

How much for ODZ land?

While Frank Salt Real Estate does not have many fields on its books and this may not be an area of focus, it does receive requests and tries to find the right piece of land.

“Some people inherit land in Ta’ Xbiex and others in the middle of nowhere and think it is worth nothing. Now, these are taking advantage and cashing in,” Salt said about the situation.

From the owners’ point of view, the choice was between renting land to a farmer and selling it for tens of thousands – “so they sell”.

The fields were often owned by several people. This could get complicated, “so they want to clear up an old inheritance by selling,” he continued.

Salt acknowledged that people wanted “a bit of outdoor space in the countryside for a picnic and a barbecue, where the kids can play”, putting the interest down to overdevelopment, the pandemic and the joy of driving away from congested areas to a piece of land they can call their own to play with their dog.

“As kids, we would just find an empty field, set up a camp and have a picnic, without knowing who it belonged to.

“Today, you cannot do that without risking someone coming after you with a shotgun. Things have changed,” he said.

Putting it also down to a “fascination” with owning property, Salt said a field can be relatively affordable, compared to a garden attached to a house.

Having said that, a tumolo of agricultural land once sold “quite cheaply” for Lm10,000 (€23,000), but the value has doubled over the last 15 years, according to Salt, with people even paying “stupid” prices.

“Today, evidently, people are prepared to pay to have some outdoor space – even if they cannot build on these ODZ areas and can only have a picnic.”

But the value of these fields is limited, Salt maintained, adding that prices cannot just keep soaring.

“There is no real justification for this. At the end of the day, how much is one prepared to pay for an ODZ piece of land that cannot be developed?”

The “plus side” was that those who bought fields were likely to invest in them and make them more attractive by arranging the walls and planting trees, instead of leaving barren land, Salt said.

Many fields were not necessarily agricultural and cultivated. They were chosen because of their accessibility, being close to a road, and not because they had good-quality soil, he said.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, PN spokesman Toni Bezzina said the government’s lack of interest was obvious as the white paper to address the issue, promised before the election, had not yet been published.

Such lack of action, Bezzina said, is threatening the future of the industry.

He said the Opposition joined the Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi's appeal to the government to clarify the situation as soon as possible for the benefit of all concerned.