The Malta Food Agency's CEO, Brian Vella, said that "it is impossible for someone to enter agriculture from scratch" in Malta if they don't inherit fields from family.

He was being interviewed by The Malta Independent on Sunday regarding what major challenges loom over the farming and fisheries sectors, such as barriers for young people to enter farming, local farmers' ageing population, land and water problems, and issues to process fresh produce during periods of overproduction.

In the Malta Food Agency's view, one of the greatest concerns for the future of this sector is how many people will be ready to become tomorrow's farmers.

"Today, the land is very expensive. It is pretty much more worth it for landowners to sell their land instead of farming it," Vella said.

A Eurostat survey published in January 2026 found that Malta has by far the most expensive arable land in the European Union. While the average price of one hectare (10,000 square metres) of arable land in the EU, in 2024, stood at €15,224, the average price of one hectare of arable land in Malta in 2024 was recorded to be €201,263 - over 13 times as valuable.

Maltese arable land was found to be more than double the average price recorded in the Netherlands (€96,608 per hectare), the country with the second-most expensive arable land. This is also costlier than the most expensive arable land, once again by average price, at regional level across the entire EU, which was found in the Dutch region of Flevoland (average price of €187,109 per hectare).

This Eurostat survey attributed Malta's expensive arable land to "the limited availability of agricultural land and the pressure for alternative uses."

According to this data, one hectare of arable land in Malta is worth 41.7 hectares of arable land in Latvia, the country with the cheapest such land on average (€4,825 per hectare).

Noting that the Maltese farming community is ageing, Vella observed that, for various reasons, young people nowadays are lacking interest to become farmers. In population terms, he said that when families used to have seven or eight children, one would grow up to enter farming, though this is no longer the case with families having just one or two children. This is being exacerbated by a greater onus for youths to work higher skilled jobs, which has resulted in less native manual labourers, he said.

 "Farming isn't very attractive in today's world," Vella said, "we tend to think that this is only the case in Malta - farming isn't attractive in all of Europe, and you could say the whole world."

Other challenges mentioned by Vella were the lack of fresh water, including access to water from the ground; the fragmentation of land, as an island, that makes Maltese agriculture less sustainable through our limited land area; and that of climate change.

The MFA CEO called for Malta and Gozo to grow more resilient towards climate-related shocks and to promote a more sustainable environment for farming, "even through new markets and more promotion of Maltese food."

In January, stormy weather over a single weekend resulted in some local supermarkets displaying empty shelves where fruit, vegetables, beef, pork, and poultry are typically on stock. The supermarkets that had stock shortages heavily rely on daily imports from Sicily.  The following week, Storm Harry devastated parts of the Maltese islands.

Vella added that it's also important for agricultural land to be used for agricultural purposes, and not, e.g., "as a playground or for weekend family outings." He stated that a balance must be struck so that landowners can use their fields, while arable lands are maximised for local produce.

He insisted that Malta must never become self-reliant and that it is important to keep importing food.

"We shouldn't dream to reduce food imports because that would lead to greater profits for local farmers - we cannot think like that. Imports are there to stay, and they will, but we must keep working relentlessly to keep promoting Maltese food," Vella said.

However, Vella remarked that fully relying on imports is not a viable option for Maltese food security either - even if the future doesn't bode well for the quantity of local farmers.

"We cannot afford to say, as a country, that 'we don't have [our own] food' because we don't have farmers. God forbid that day ever comes because we'll be like a country without oxygen; food is part of our oxygen and keeps our ecosystem going," Vella said.

In this regard, Vella said that the MFA has made big strides to change the perception that Maltese produce is inferior to imported produce. Additionally, he told this newsroom that "in Malta, we have the shortest supply chains in the world" of just one or two kilometres before being eaten.

"We cannot have fresher food. There is that connection between us, the land, and the farmer - that is something that we must continue working for," Vella said.

Larger European countries try to follow the zero-kilometre food concept and keep these supply chains shorter than 100km. This also mitigates environmental harm within these processes.

He commented that while agriculture's contribution to GDP is little, one cannot understate the importance for Malta to be able to grow its own produce. On this, Vella said that "we don't have enough but what we have must be looked after."

The Malta Food Agency was founded by the Government of Malta in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was set up to deliver public services related to food deriving from farming and fisheries, specifically to address the market failures surrounding local produce.

Vella said that due to Malta's small size, certain market failures arise simply when this sector tries to organise itself and be sustainable, due to Malta's economies of scale.

Vella said that his agency operates the fruit and vegetable market (the Pitkalija), "which used to be associated with controversies." He noted that since this isn't a space that the private sector is keen to invest in, the government felt the need to intervene, and had it not, "we would have had significant problems in Malta's agricultural sector - especially where fruit and vegetables are concerned."

"Preferably, the government doesn't intervene, but we must when it's needed. We intervened so we can support the agricultural sector," Vella said.

Among the changes introduced in the Pitkalija were barcoding all products and entering them in a centralised digital system, through which farmers can track how much of their produce has been sold and to whom. Prior to this, farmers would check how many of their goods are being sold by calling the Pitkalija, by receiving a statement by mail a month later, or via word-of-mouth. MFA inspectors also go round the Pitkalija to verify all transactions.

Additionally, customers at the Pitkalija can use the "Malta Food Agency" mobile app to see what they've purchased from there and how much they owe.

Vella stated that the MFA is working to add a feature on this app, through which consumers can trace where certain produce derives from, down to the farmer, by scanning the attached barcode.

One measure already implemented by the Agency is for all farmers to benefit from a reduced tax rate of 3% if they sell their produce at the Pitkalija or directly to the HoReCa industry (hotels, restaurants, cafes and catering). Previously, only those who sold their goods at the Pitkalija could enjoy this tax benefit, thus disincentivising those who went straight to hotels and restaurants.

Furthermore, after opening the food coop, "the first cooperative for food consumers in Malta," the MFA hopes for more shops of this kind to open around Malta and Gozo.

The Malta Food Agency also hopes to have a "new, top quality" Farmers' Market, a new and modern Pitkalija, as well as construct a Food Innovation Hub.

Vella stated that during periods of overproduction, the country struggles to process these fresh foods as it lacks the means to do so in relatively large quantities.

"If we had factories in Malta to process this food that they have left over, we would be helping them," he said.

To address this, the MFA is coming up with a Food Innovation Hub where farmers can go and drop off any products - due to oversupply or because prices dropped - and have it developed and packaged into a product. For example, a farmer with an oversupply of tomatoes would be able to go to this Hub to turn it into salsa - "we will give them this infrastructure and help them develop their produce." Vella estimates that this will open in the second half of 2027.

Vella stated that a new product can take over the entire market overnight, whereas in the past it would need a few months or years to make as big of an impact. Vella added that this quickened pace has not only added to the sector's challenges, but "today's fast-paced life is making it more difficult for us to eat certain vegetables" as well.

The Malta Food Agency looks to build bridges between producers and consumers. By analysing trends, it pushes what consumers want to eat. The MFA does so by working in supply chains connecting consumers, farmers, and producers.

The MFA chief disclosed that more farmers are packaging their own produce as of late, in order to boost its value. Abroad, this work is done by producer organisations or cooperatives, but "in Malta, we haven't reached that stage yet."

"It is fruitless for us to keep processing [food] in large commercial quantities. We are a small country, and our farmers are adapting to the demand outside. It is not easy," he said.

Vella commented that individual farmers in Malta suffer from economies of scale with the country's limited size, and so he wishes for farmers to unite and organise themselves as producer organisations or in cooperatives.

"Even though we have cooperatives, I feel that cooperatives are still very scared of the change that must happen; they must work more commercially, they must see that farmers are better united and to better organise themselves," he added.