Empty shelves and food security

The empty shelves at the Lidl and Eurospin supermarkets over the weekend provided a stark reminder of the need to take food security seriously.

The two supermarket chains experienced shortages in fresh fruit, vegetables and meat products, which they import from Sicily via the catamaran service.

The disruption was caused by two days of bad weather that halted ferry services between Malta and Sicily, exposing the precarious dependence of the country on regular transport links.

Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, the farmers’ association, shared images on social media depicting the empty supermarket shelves, to emphasise how quickly supply chains can be affected when transport links are interrupted. In some ways it was a déjà vu of the COVID period when Malta ran the risk of food shortages as a result of port restrictions.

The weekend disruption underscores the critical importance of having a vibrant and forward-looking agricultural sector, that can offer the country a modicum of food security.

It is a fact that Malta and Gozo can never produce enough food to feed everyone for a reasonable period of time. Self-sufficiency is impossible to achieve, given the limited land area and high population density. But the empty supermarket shelves should serve as a cautionary tale for a country where food security may not always be high on the national agenda.

Having a strong domestic agricultural sector remains vital, not just to safeguard our landscapes and rural identity; but also, in terms of food security and affordability.

Apart from the fact that Maltese produce carries a smaller carbon footprint, than fruits and vegetables imported from overseas, increasing reliance on domestic food supplies would help to insulate the country from global food-supply problems.

A 2022 study of food price hikes, conducted by Caritas, found that the Ta’ Qali farmers’ market was among the cheapest sources of fruit and vegetables, compared to chain supermarkets and locality grocery vendors. This is largely because the prices do not include transportation costs and cuts by various intermediaries in the supply-chain.

Yet in order to prosper, the agricultural sector also needs a forward-looking vision and that has to start by avoiding the spurious loss of agricultural land on the altar of road-building and development.

The rules introduced last year by the Agricultural Ministry for all farmland to be registered and ploughed at least once a year to protect agricultural land from being degraded, even if the owners are not farmers, were a positive development.

If a field remains unregistered within the stipulated timeframe and no one comes forward after 12 months, the Agricultural Resources Agency will have the power to register it in its name, clean it up, and lease it out on a yearly basis for agricultural use. Nonetheless, if someone does show up after some years with proof that the land belongs to them it can be claimed back.

The rules do not stop alternative uses for fields, something farmers would have desired. If someone is renting a field with intention of holding family picnics in it, or as a bird hunting ground, they can still do so as long as the activity does not degrade the agricultural potential of the land. The problem with these practices, most notably the parcelling of land into smaller holdings for lease as picnic areas, is that they make future agricultural use inefficient. What Malta needs is consolidation of farmland not further parcelling.

The rules introduced last year help protect agricultural land from abandon but there is a stumbling block the agriculture sector faces, which is not easy to overcome—the farming community is ageing and largely inward looking. This is further compounded by the fact that it is difficult for young farmers to buy their own land. And where farmers did inherit long-held family leases, such as the Tal-Bebbux fields in Żurrieq, they had to battle government’s attempt to turn the land into a road that was not needed. Luckily, the government saw the light on this particular case and halted the requisition.

Young and aspiring farmers need all the support they can get to make the most of their land, market their produce well and engage modern technological tools such as drones and AI to assist them.

Malta’s agricultural and animal husbandry sector may be small and unable on their own to meet the country’s food demands. But they remain crucial to give the country a modicum of food security.