“One of our main concerns in recent months was that if strategic ports close down, our agricultural sector would be important to ensure there’s sufficient food for the nation,” he said.

“We must protect this sector based on the principles of balance and proportionality that guided our recent reform on pre-1995 rents. Landowners and farmers represent two sides of the same coin and we’re in the final stages of launching this reform, keeping those principles in mind.”

The Agricultural Leases (Reletting Act), an old piece of legislation dating back to the late 1960s, grants farmers who rent their land from private landowners an indefinite right to renew their lease at the same value and even pass it on to their heirs.

As the value of land has exploded in the past decades, landowners have been left aggrieved at being forced by law to accept minimal fees.

Following a court case instituted by real estate firm J & C Properties judge Joseph Zammit McKeon ruled last November that the law is unconstitutional.

Malcolm Borg, coordinator of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, was recently interviewed by Lovin Malta about the implications this constitutional case will have on farmers and the general public alike.

He said demand for private land for recreational purposes has exploded since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People can’t go on holiday and there’s nowhere to go but they had two options. If they had money they could buy land, if they didn’t they could go for a walk in the countryside, so this split has become very explicit now. It is a recent phenomenon due to circumstances but it has dangerous implications.”

“It’s becoming a kind of battle between the haves and the have-nots and farmers prevented that from happening because their interest was to work the land, earn a living and produce food,” Borg said. “Nowadays, because of this phenomenon, that is changing.”