The farming industry is, in many ways, one of the oldest industries on the planet.

Agriculture has helped the world develop – from the early days of cultivation thousands of years ago, which enabled a shift from a nomadic, hunting-based society to fixed, established towns and villages with secure supplies of food, to today where we still seek out the best fresh produce to follow a healthy and balanced diet.

And yet, for more reasons than one, the agricultural industry is under threat.

The industry continues to suffer from a dwindling number of people willing to work within it, as younger generations prefer to seek desk jobs than field jobs; while it continues to suffer from the loss of more and more agricultural land to Malta’s development scourge – be that scourge from private construction or from the government itself through agencies such as Infrastructure Malta.

But another threat – also related to the status of agricultural land – is now rearing its head.

As pre-1995 rents start to be phased out, it was obvious that agricultural leases – also mostly based on pre-1995 rents – would follow suit shortly after.

A landmark judgement which not only confirmed that the occupation a tract of agricultural land in Zabbar on a pre-1995 rent was in breach of the landowner’s fundamental human rights, but also saw the farmers occupying the said land forcibly evicted has made what were initially fears, a very big part of reality.

18 agricultural organisations warned earlier this week that this “very dangerous situation can lead to the exodus of farmers; resulting in a huge social and environmental negative impact.”

“As a consequence, dozens of farmers will lose their livelihood, while the land they manage will fall in the hands of those who have neither the intention nor knowledge on how to farm it, or utilised for purposes that are not necessarily agricultural,” they said in a joint statement.

It’s a situation which the government last November, when the Constitutional Court reached its first decision on the landmark case, has said that they are discussing to see how to best address.  They must be some very long discussions, because almost 10 months have passed since and no action has been taken.

While the government has acted to protect those renting dwellings on pre-1995 leases and at the same time provide just compensation for landlords, it must act in a similar manner here as well.

It is perfectly understandable for landowners to want to be justly compensated for their land – and as things stand, the law courts are the only avenue that they can follow to get this. It remains however incredibly important for the agricultural industry to be protected.

The government needs to act to find a solution which can satisfy both sides of this debate, otherwise we truly are looking at the loss of Malta’s proud agricultural industry.