The tasty Gozo ġbejna and wine production may yet be the agricultural sector’s saving grace on the sister island, according to a leading expert.
As agriculture faces the onslaught of increased competition, economist Philip Von Brockdorff believes the sector will survive in Gozo but it has to shift focus. Agriculture has to support environmental strategy, he said.
“Producing wine as well as cheeselets or other artisanal products fits perfectly in this strategy where production doesn’t need to be large-scale,” he said.
Dr Brockdorff will be one of the speakers at a seminar organised by the European Parliament office next week focusing on Gozo. Agriculture, a mainstay of the Gozitan economy, will be one of the topics discussed.
Dr Brockdorff said the production of high-quality products means a price premium can be considered justified.
His argument is shared by farmer Joe Spiteri, an owner of Ta’ Mena Estates, a Gozitan firm that produces and processes agricultural products.
Mr Spiteri said competition was one of the biggest challenges farmers faced and the problem was lack of information about products grown in Malta and Gozo.
“Farmers do not cooperate between themselves to market and promote their product and this conservative mentality to protect one’s turf works against us,” he acknowledged.
Mr Spiteri said more must be done at a national level to promote the Maltese product. “The Maltese product is genuine, it is good,” he said.
However, Mr Spiteri also noted the problem of land parcelling that made agriculture unsustainable as fields continued to be subdivided from one generation to another.
But the sector also has its natural enemies. “This year we had a lot of wind and this has reduced the production of olives from six tonnes to 300 kilogrammes,” Mr Spiteri said.
This conservative mentality to protect one’s turf works against us
There are the longer term problems linked to lack of rain and “salty” borehole water that force farmers to build watercatchment facilities.
But agriculture also has its silver lining. The milk sector is one where optimism has translated into substantial investment with the help of EU funds.
It is also the only agricultural sector where producers and suppliers are successfully integrated, according to Dr Brockdorff.
“The dairy sector hasn’t faced the same competition as other sectors of agriculture largely thanks to the measures taken jointly by the Koperattiva tal-Produtturi and the Malta Dairy Products immediately prior and following accession.”
Dairy farmers have their own challenges as they contend with price hikes in animal feed, ongoing quality control and the need for continuous product innovation and research.
Vulnerability to international market prices for barley, maize and soya – key components of processed feed – is the biggest challenge.
Dr Brockdorff said state aid had partly compensated for the increase in prices but a longer-term solution was required at EU level with recognition to the peripheral status of the Maltese agriculture sector.
Finland enjoys such a status, which would allow for measures including state aid options to compensate for the added costs incurred by dairy farmers.
“Of course, this would require a robust negotiating position by the Maltese Government,” Dr Brockdorff said.
While competition from European dairy processing plants for the supply of fresh milk to the domestic market could be a challenge, Dr Brockdorff noted the dairy sector remained cost efficient.
The situation is slightly more complex for tomato producers, the other big agricultural sector in Gozo that mainly employs part-time farmers.
Dr Brockdorff said that reliance on state and EU aid to top up their revenue made the tomato sector highly vulnerable. There was reprieve when the EU budget for the next period starting next year guaranteed European aid to tomato producers.
But they will also be facing added costs, Dr Brockdorff said, possibly for water supply as a result of the Water Framework Directive and the enforcement of the Nitrates Directive.
Farmers may look for ways to reduce costs at the expense of quality but sacrificing quality is a high risk strategy, according to Dr Brockdorff.
“Domestic tomato processing plants are facing stiff competition for their tomato-based products on the supermarket shelves,” he said, especially from Italian tomato products where processing can rely on large-scale production that drives costs down.
“This, of course, is impossible for the local processing plants and price subsidy will need to remain in place for the tomato processing sector to continue in the future,” he said.
The big question, he added, was whether a sector still reliant on a price subsidy can survive if costs of production continued rising for producer and processor. “It is a reality that has to be acknowledged.”
Dr Brockdorff argued that a serious rethink is required to analyse where the Gozitan agricultural sector should be heading.
Agriculture will be a topic of discussion during a public dialogue organised by the EU parliament on October 18 in the run-up to the European Parliament. The dialogue will be at Mużew il-Ħaġar at Pjazza San Ġorġ, Victoria, and will start at 5.30pm. To reserve a seat call 2777 2777.