Agricultural marketing centres in Malta and abroad

Abstract

The Maltese agricultural marketing centre is known as il-Pitkalija and it holds a near-monopoly on agricultural marketing in Malta and as a system it has its advantages and disadvantages. Farmers in Malta are on the decline and have gradually been relegated to field workers that cannot make ends meet without constant sacrifice. Agriculture in Malta is considered heavily laborious despite the revolution of modern technology especially in the age of digital solutions that epitomise the informational era. A hierarchy between players in the pitkalija prevails and it risks harming the legitimacy of the Maltese agriculture centre and bring into question fairness and equity of the pitkal auction system. The oligopoly of pitkala risks short-changing farmers, especially with pressure on the remaining links in the food chain that collectively profit on a distance between farmer and consumer by the process of marketing. Regulating and organising the auction bring the responsibility to make or break the profits, livelihood and potential of the farmers and therefore intermediary players in the food supply chain are in a position of power. Through this research, a desk-based investigation of whether the pitkalija is ideal for farmers and consumers in Malta is being conducted, proceeding to outline foreign solutions to agricultural marketing with a view to determine whether there are any lessons to be learned to bring local agriculture in line with modern standards and a fair deal for genuine farmers exploring solutions represented by farmer cooperatives, alternative supply chains and digital tools.