The Gozo Confederation for Agriculture and Fisheries (GCAF) has published its Pre-Budget 2027 Proposals, setting out a package of practical measures aimed at strengthening the long-term viability, resilience and competitiveness of Gozo’s primary sectors.
The document brings together priorities affecting farmers, livestock and dairy producers, fishers and rural communities and calls for Budget 2027 to recognise the particular circumstances of producing food and maintaining primary-sector activity on an island.
At the centre of GCAF’s proposals is a simple principle: Gozo’s agriculture and fisheries sectors should not be assessed solely through national averages.
Small producer scale, fragmented agricultural land, transport dependence, water scarcity, climate exposure and the additional costs associated with insularity require measures designed around the realities faced by producers on the ground.
From sector challenges to Budget actions
The Pre-Budget document is structured around identifiable challenges and practical actions that Government can take through Budget 2027 and related policy measures.
Among the priorities put forward by GCAF are measures addressing generational renewal and access to agricultural land, including clearer pathways for young and new farmers and fishers to enter the sectors and for productive agricultural activity to continue from one generation to the next.
This is particularly important as Malta prepares its National Agricultural Policy for 2027–2037, which itself identifies land stewardship, food security, farm viability, water management and generational renewal among the country’s strategic agricultural challenges.
Climate and water resilience
GCAF is also placing climate and water resilience firmly among its Budget 2027 priorities.
Recent periods of extreme heat and drought have demonstrated that climate pressures are no longer distant risks for agriculture. They can directly affect production, animal welfare, water requirements, yields and farm income.
The Confederation is therefore calling for stronger support for adaptation investment together with mechanisms capable of assessing climate-related impacts and responding rapidly when exceptional conditions seriously affect producers.
Water efficiency, irrigation, storage, soil-water retention and other practical resilience measures should increasingly be viewed as investments in food security and productive capacity.
Recognising the cost of insularity
A recurring theme throughout GCAF’s proposals is the additional cost of operating from Gozo.
Agricultural and fisheries businesses on the island face disadvantages associated with transport, access to services and markets, small scale and the movement of products, equipment and inputs between islands.
GCAF believes these structural disadvantages should be recognised more systematically when Government designs support schemes.
The Confederation is therefore proposing that the principle of a Gozo or island adjustment be considered across relevant agricultural, fisheries, climate and investment measures.
Such an approach would not constitute preferential treatment. It would recognise measurable structural disadvantages that affect the competitiveness of producers operating from an island.
Support must remain accessible to small producers
GCAF’s Pre-Budget proposals also emphasise that the availability of funding alone does not guarantee that support reaches those who need it.
Malta’s agricultural structure is dominated by very small holdings. European Commission data indicate that around 90% of Maltese farms are below two hectares, while fragmentation and limited resources make economies of scale particularly difficult to achieve.
This reality is especially relevant to Gozo.
GCAF is therefore calling for proportionate requirements, simplified procedures and support mechanisms that do not inadvertently exclude smaller farmers, livestock producers and fishers because of excessive administrative complexity.
Measure what Budget investment achieves
Another central proposal is for stronger outcome-based reporting.
The success of agricultural and fisheries expenditure should not be measured only by the amount of funding allocated or the number of applications approved.
GCAF believes Government should increasingly report whether interventions are actually improving farm viability, encouraging succession, maintaining productive land, strengthening resilience, supporting employment and enabling younger producers to enter the sectors.
Where possible, these results should be reported separately for Gozo and according to producer scale.
A practical contribution ahead of Budget 2027
The publication of the Pre-Budget document forms part of GCAF’s wider representation work on behalf of Gozo’s agriculture and fisheries communities.
The Confederation intends the proposals to provide a constructive basis for engagement with Government, the Ministry for Gozo, the Ministry responsible for agriculture and fisheries, the Ministry for Finance, the Gozo Regional Development Authority and other relevant authorities and stakeholders.
The objective is to ensure that Budget 2027 does more than respond to immediate pressures.
It should help create the conditions for viable farms, a stronger livestock sector, continued food production, resilient rural communities and sustainable fishing activity in Gozo over the longer term.
One Island. One Voice.
GCAF believes Gozo’s primary sectors have an important economic, environmental, cultural and food-security role that extends far beyond the number of people directly employed within them.
Budget 2027 represents an opportunity to recognise that contribution and address some of the structural disadvantages that threaten its continuation.
Through its Pre-Budget 2027 Proposals, GCAF is putting forward practical actions and measurable outcomes that can help move from recognition of these challenges to implementation.
The message is clear: supporting Gozo’s farmers, livestock producers and fishers is an investment in the resilience, food security and future of the island itself.
The full GCAF Pre-Budget 2027 Proposals document is available below.