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Malta is a small island state in the middle of the Mediterranean
Sea, with an area of around 350 sq. km and a population of 380,000.
Over one million tourists visit the island each year, making it
one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Agricultural
land is understandably scarce and extremely fragmented ¡ª the local
unit of land measurement is equivalent to one tenth of a hectare.
However, the island is a net exporter of potatoes, onions, pork
and poultry products and is self sufficient in vegetables and,
for most of the year, in milk. Over the past fifty years the land
scarcity, coupled with the high demand for agricultural produce,
has brought about very intensive use of land with a heavy use
of artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Yields have been increased
several times over and the farming community is shrinking while
output keeps soaring.
With trade barriers rapidly disappearing cheap imported produce
is now competing head on with local products that can never benefit
from the economies of scale achieved by the producers overseas.
The market of some traditional products like Maltese honey and
goat¡¯s cheese is not endangered since they are part of the local
culture. Malta aspires to become an EU member in the next enlargement
process, and its diplomats in Brussels have stated that organic
agriculture is not an option for Malta. It must be adopted when
Malta joins the EU. It is in this scenario that Malta¡¯s Organic
Agriculture Movement (MOAM) is striving to re-establish the long
lost skills of sustainable agriculture through organic means as
much as possible.
MOAM is now over two years old. It was set up by a handful of
individuals from all walks of life, including a few enterprising
organic producers who had been operating in isolation and who
desperately needed a framework in which to operate successfully.
In the absence of legislation and a certification body, they were
finding it impossible to survive because they were often forced
to sell their produce at the same price as conventional produce.
In November 1999, IFOAM AgriBioMediterraneo (ABM) held its second
General Assembly in Malta, and MOAM helped organise it. Through
the press coverage of the ABM conference, the plight of organic
movement caught the attention of Malta¡¯s numerous green movements,
and they now follow MOAM¡¯s initiatives very closely. In addition,
MOAM has now been accepted as a member of IFOAM. Through a set
of working-groups, MOAM is trying to focus its efforts in four
main areas: education and training; standards and certification;
rural development; and marketing.
In
spite of the many activities performed by MOAM, the demand and
supply chain for organic products has not yet started to function
properly in Malta. Apart from some small outlets, there are no
established marketing avenues for organically grown products.
For organic production to take root the right market opportunities
must be created, and MOAM are in the process of preparing an awareness
campaign targeted at the hotel and catering industry. It is clear
that there is a potential tourist market waiting to be tapped,
however, one of the prerequisites is that the hoteliers and caterers
must be able to get products that are properly marked and certified.
Hence,Malta needs a certification body that can be trusted, and
that is the circle that must be broken: demand must be created
to stimulate supply, but the supply must be not be limiting if
demand is to be encouraged. It is clear that this has been the
problem in many countries but being such a small market Malta¡¯s
situation is particularly difficult.
In conclusion, the local organic movement firmly believes that
Malta should take up sustainable organic agriculture on a national
scale. This is the way forward, not only for a healthier living
through the availability of wholesome foods but also as a way
of preserving and even rehabilitating the Maltese islands that
are evidently under stress from over population and over production
through conventional agriculture. The Maltese islands are part
of the global heritage and therefore deserve every attention..
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