Farmers need fair valuation for their land | Miguel Azzopardi

The government recently introduced a new bill governing the price of agricultural land. This bill, referred to as Bill no. 15, introduces important changes to the way agricultural land is valued, as, up until now, the government has provided no guidelines or rules for the evaluation of agricultural land. This has significant implications for farmers, as it can determine whether farmers can continue to afford paying rent for the land they work to grow local food and, in turn, sustain their livelihood.

The value of agricultural land is usually assessed using an evaluation known as the comparative method. Under this method, the price of agricultural land is evaluated by an architect, who takes into account the market value of the surrounding plots of land. This exposes farmers to the effects of rampant speculation in the property market, as the price of the land is disconnected from its agricultural characteristics, forcing them to pay unaffordable sums of money to continue working the land.

The new bill attempts to address the lack of guidelines governing the evaluations of agricultural land, but it falls significantly short. It says that farmers should pay a rent equivalent to 1.5% of the value of the land, without giving explicit guidelines on the method used to value the land. If the comparative method is used, as will likely be the case, then it is still at a rate that is unaffordable for most farmers. Meanwhile, important terms in the bill such as ‘genuine farmer’ are not defined – leaving it open for recreational farmers or developers masquerading as farmers to make use of more favourable rates.

Instead of continuing the use of the comparative method, most concerned organisations including Moviment Graffitti, the Malta Youth in Agriculture (MaYa) Foundation and Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi among others propose using the income-based method, which is the norm in other EU countries. According to this method, rent on the land is a percentage of what the farmer earns and the agricultural characteristics of the land, rather than relying on the whims and inflated prices of unreliable and speculative markets.

Moviment Graffitti and MaYa Foundation have released feedback on this bill, and, along with 9 other agricultural organisations, sent a letter to the Prime Minister highlighting their concerns. However, these have fallen on deaf ears as the bill was passed largely unchanged. Additionally, there has been little to no consultation with agricultural organisations, with the bill having no consultation period and NGOs only learning of the bill shortly before it was passed. At the time, NGOs and agricultural organisations were preoccupied with giving feedback on a white paper and only found out about the bill by chance. On a bill as important as this, it is completely unacceptable that the government reduces the consultation process to a box ticking exercise.

Currently, there are around 130 farmers or more in court facing possible eviction following a judgement by the Constitutional Court on the qbiela laws. The bill as currently proposed will make it more difficult for farmers to secure a fair price for their land. We cannot let speculative interests jeopardise the farming sector by turning agricultural land into something to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. As primary producers of food, farmers must have fair access to land, otherwise there is little guarantee of the continued existence of local agriculture and, by association, our continued access to local food.

In the context of an aggravating climate and ecological crisis and increasing global food insecurity, we cannot afford to take farmers’ concerns for granted. Malta is highly dependent on imports for food and other essential goods. And we know how fragile our economic system is.

The pandemic threw supply chains into chaos. The war in Ukraine led to major shortages in wheat and fertilisers. A denial to confront the climate crisis is increasingly leading to less rain and more extreme weather. If anything else goes wrong and the system collapses, we will not be prepared.

Miguel Azzopardi is an activist with Moviment Graffitti