AuthorsMinistry for Gozo: Anthony Zammit, David Dandria

DesignICALPE - International Centre for ALPine Environments

Casa Pastureccia 20250 RIVENTOSA [FRANCE]

Introduction

This booklet gives an overview of the rural sector of the island region of Gozo, Malta and also describes a success story of non-technological innovation on the island. It also aims to demonstrate the development prospects and the problems of the local rural sector and to describe how a non-technological innovative intervention led to the upgrade of a specific component of Gozo’s agricultural infrastructure. The information provided is derived from relevant literature analysis and field work which was carried out for the purposes of Gozo’s Pilot Project for “AGRISLES”.

Chapter 1Context of the Island

Italy

Sicily

Malta

Gozo

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Brief descriptionThe island of Gozo (Ghawdex in the Maltese language) is divided into 14 municipalities, each governed by a Local Council. It is the second largest island of the Maltese Archipelago with a total land area of 67 km² and a resident population of ca. 31,000 which is augmented by thousands of tourists who visit the island, particularly during the summer months.

The average population density is 462 persons/ km². Transport to the island is predominantly by sea, with 3 car-carrying ferries plying between Cirkewwa in the northwest of Malta and Mgarr in the southeast of Gozo.

The climate is typically Mediterranean. It is generally mild in winter save for the first four to six weeks of the year when it is normally a bit cool, wet and sometimes unpredictable. The temperature is very stable, the annual mean being 18ºC and the monthly averages ranging from 12ºC to 31ºC . Winds are strong and frequent; the most common are the cool northwesterly (majjistral), the dry northeasterly (grigal, or gregale), and the hot humid southeasterly (xlokk, or sirocco). The relative humidity is consistently high and rarely falls below 40%. Most of Malta’s rainfall falls during autumn and winter, mostly from thunderstorms which make up most of the rainfall from September to December. The annual rainfall averages 550 mm, peaking in December (112mm) with July being the driest month with practically 0 mm. It is usually mild in Malta during the winter, with plenty of sunshine, too, with daytime temperatures usually 15ºC or above and sometimes also around 20ºC.

Gozo at a glance:Area: 67 km²Population: 31 053 (2005 Census)Density: 462,69 hab/km²

Gozo is a very small island with a very highpopulation density.

Agricultural area 47,8 Urban/Industrial area 28,6 Natural area 22,7 Forest area 0,9

Gozo landcover in %

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General context Gozo has a population of just over 31,000 according to the latest Census (2005). The crude birth rate was 7.93, considerably lower than that of 9.59 for Malta. The local economy of Gozo is based on the following activities: Agriculture, Livestock farming, Food processing, Fisheries and Tourism. Gozitan agriculture comprises crop husbandry and livestock farming. Agriculture and livestock farming are male-domi-nated, with women making up just under 20% of the farming community.

Practically half of the area of Gozo is agricultural land, while only just under a quar-ter is natural undeveloped land. Over half the land devoted to agriculture is used to grow forage crops, with vegetable growing being the next most important activity. The main vegetable crop is tomatoes for processing; other important crops include potatoes, melons, watermelons, courgettes, grapes for wine making and citrus fruits. Some of the major constraints limiting Gozitan crop production include water scarcity, small and fragmented holdings, as well as an inadequate level of training and part time status of farmers, together with limited integration with environmental man-agement measures. In response to these constraints and in order to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sec-tor, the Rural Development Programme has identified various targets, including crop improvement and the promotion of quality food, which can be implemented through in-tegrated approaches which also cater for ecological protection and restoration.

Livestock farming in Gozo is dominated by dairy and pig-farming, but poultry and small ruminants (sheep and goats) also play an important part.

Cattle 6222 Pigs 5831 Sheeps 2360 Goats 1267

Gozo livestock excluding poultry

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Food processing mainly involves the transformation of local plant and ani-mal products into quality food items, using traditional methods. Many of these products are specifically re-lated to the Gozitan identity. Among these one can mention a variety of tomato products such as a typically local type of tomato paste called kunserva, juices, pulp, and sun-dried tomatoes. The tomato processing industry is one of the major indus-trial concerns on the island, produc-ing quality items for the local market as well as for export and providing employment for over 150 Gozitans. Another typically traditional Gozitan product are cheeselets made from sheep’s and goat’s milk.

Besides traditional food items, producers are now venturing into the development of new products, always using local raw mate-rials, including liqueurs such as limoncello and other, innovative products similar to li-moncello but with an orange or a tangerine base instead of lemons. One can also men-tion balsamic vinegar, sea-salt and various jams and marmalades made from delicious, sun-ripened Gozitan fruit.

Another important agro-food industry is wine production. A number of local viticul-turists/vintners have recently expanded their operations, increasing the area de-voted to vine growing and at the same time producing quality wines. Olive oil production is also gaining ground as an important ac-tivity, with some small-scale olive presses producing oil of excellent quality.

Utilised Agricultural Area in Gozo

Forage plants 59,7 Vegetables, flowers 14,7 Fallow 7,7 Olive plantations 0,4 Vineyards 2,6 Kitchen gardens 12,2

Gozo agricultural Labour Force

Part time males 2506 Part time females 703 Full time males 281 Full time females 35

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The Eco-Gozo projectEco-Gozo is a concept which summarises the Maltese Government’s vision for the future of this island. It is a vision which aims at transforming Gozo and Gozitan society into a sustainable reality in its wider sense, not only environmentally, but also socially and economically. It is a new way of looking at Gozo and its future banks on the island’s strengths and tapping its attractive potential for the benefit of the island’s inhabitants, its visitors and investors, so that all benefit from:

A better quality of lifeA society exerting less pressure on the environment A wholesome natural and cultural environmentMore sustainable jobsA caring society for allMore quality investmentAn enhancement of the island’s identity

Eco-Gozo will provide the thrust so that every person will progress, while the island will become even more attractive to all. Action and change in many sectors will contribute to this aim, among which, agriculture, tourism, the environment, water management, education, energy, research, waste management, transport, cultural heritage and many others. Collectively, these make up Gozo’s and indeed, the Gozitan’s identity. Eco-Gozo provides an assurance for sustainable development in Gozo, and a continued success for the island in the future. The Eco-Gozo project took off in 2010 and the first 3-year phase will last until 2012. There will be 2 further 3-year phases so that by 2020 Gozo will truly become an eco-island.

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Chapter 2

Contributions of the

private and public

sectors to the

rural economy 11

SummaryThe importance of the private sector – growers, livestock farmers, producer organisations, cooperatives and commercial undertakings – cannot be over-emphasised. In this chapter we will look at some examples of how individuals, associations and organisations in the private sector are contributing to the rural economy of the island.

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Magro Ltd: promotion and marketing of Gozo dairy products Magro Ltd are the largest agro-food undertaking in Gozo. Originally focussing on processed tomato products, they are now diversifying their product range. Farm Fresh is their unit which seeks to develope, promote and market new products among which are the Hanini brand of cheeses made with 100% fresh, pasteurised sheep’s milk. The range includes Fresh cheeselets, peppered cheeselets, dried cheeselets, a mature pecorino and one flavoured with garden herbs.

Gozo Cottage: promoting local productsGozo Cottage was setup with the sole purpose to use and promote local Gozitan Produce. The company, through its young and vibrant management seeks to bring back to life and offer to its esteemed clientele the old traditional recipes in full respect of traditional methods and derived only and exclusively from fresh products grown and harvested within the Island Region of Gozo. Gozo Cottage operates from its modern facilities located in Gozo. Here a mixture of traditional recipes and latest technologies are used whilst preparing the products. The highest standard in hygiene is ensured by strict adherence to HACCP that the company has in place.One of the leading products of Gozo Cottage is extra virgin olive oil. In Gozo olives are picked at the end of September to about the middle of November. Although there are mechanical ways of picking olives, in Gozo they are still being picked in the traditional way. Very often whole families will come together at the grove, spread a big net under the tree and hand-pick the olives into baskets. Once they have been taken to Gozo Cottage these carefully selected olives are pressed within 24hrs using mechanical means only. Gozo Cottage also offers a very wide range of traditional marmalades, honey, carob syrup, sun-dried tomatoes, handpicked capers, peppered cheeselets, olives and natural sea salt. Their products are sold in many selected delicatessens and in most of the leading establishments all over Malta and Gozo.

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Ta’ Mena: agri-tourism development Ta’ Mena Estate is the first agri-tourism complex in the Maltese Islands. This estate offers an experience with a difference where guests will be in touch with nature and tradition, enjoying typical foods, wines and liqueurs with a touch of the Mediterranean sunshine.

Ta’ Mena Estate grow their own grapes to produce wines with a particular Gozitan character. Ten of Ta’ Mena’s blends have been certified as GOZO D.O.K. wines (Certified Denomination of Origin) which is the highest certification for Maltese wines.

Ta’ Mena Estate are also producing typical Gozitan foods, following age-old recipes which were used in an era when there were no refrigerators and freezers. The secret lies in the use of the unique Mediterranean sun and natural preservatives, particularly marine salt, to produce and preserve several foods and beverages such as Sun Dried Sweet Tomato Paste , Sun Dried Tomatoes, Wild Capers in Vinegar and Prickly Pear Liqueur. Guests are invited to involve themselves in fruit and vegetable picking and experience the preparation of these traditional food products

Ager foundation: promoter of agro and eco tourism in Gozo

Founded in October 2005, the Ager Foundation is a leading promoter of agri- and eco-tourism in the island region of Gozo. Its role as a non-profit making non-govern-mental organisation is to act as a catalyst in the field of induction to sustainable, en-vironmentally friendly tourism as well as advancing environmentally friendly ventures where visitors are enabled to actually experience the healthy local lifestyle. The pro-ject aims to create a tourism infrastructure while encouraging new entrepreneurial activities in rural areas of the island of Gozo by:

Capitalising on a more significant sustainable advantage of Gozo as a tourist destination: the people, the hospitality tradition, the culture and countryside and its ecology;

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Smoothening out the seasonality pattern of Gozo tourism, as agro tourism in Gozo is basically an all weather product;

Directing tourists to the countryside, thus allowing for a less biased geographical distribution of the tourist population in the island-region;

Marketing Gozo as a unique destination while providing a focus of action and debate for participants (both service providers and service users) to promote and implement the values of respect towards traditions and culture in an ecologically sustainable society.

Ager Foundation offers visitors the opportunity to explore the natural habitats, physical geography and social history of Gozo. Other offers include experiencing a day in the tranquil life of a local shepherd and the preparation and tasting of traditional Gozo food and cuisine.

Tal-Massar: Vineyards and winery

Tal-Massar concentrates on the production of quality estate-bottled wine. The soils of the vineyard are highly calcareous, thin and dry. They resemble a large part of the soil of deserts, which may prove very fertile when sufficient moisture for crops is applied. The terroire of Tal-Massar is not just a geographical area, it is also our cultural and emotional inheritance. Currently the estate is managed according to a rigorous integrated pest management programme, which will ultimately be replaced with a full organic pest management programme. During the vine harvest, visitors are invited to join in grape-picking, thus experiencing the pleasures of working in the fields in a healthy environment.

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Chapter 3

The AGRISLES Gozo

Pilot projet

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The projectAs the Gozo partner in the AGRISLES Project, the Ministry for Gozo selected the transformation of the Gozo Experimental farm in Xewkija into a modern research and innovation centre under the name of Centre for Innovation in Rural Sciences and Environmental Management (CIRSEM). The Xewkija Government Experimental Farm covers approximately 10 hectares of flat agricultural land. The farm is easily accessible and is located within 500 m of the University Gozo Campus and in close proximity to the Xewkija industrial estate. This development is being undertaken in conjunction with the Institute of Earth Systems of the University of Malta.

The proposed Centre is intended to become the leader on Rural Sciences, Environmental Management and Sustainable Resource use in Gozo. It will represent an innovative development locally, providing a unique avenue for two-way interactions between researchers and local stakeholders, particularly the farming community and those involved in environment management on the island. The Centre shall thus, on the one hand, focus on research intended to have applicability for farming in Gozo and to address local socio-economic necessities, whilst on the other hand the Centre would also have a mission of promoting an ethic of stewardship amongst the Gozitan population, with respect to biodiversity heritage, both cultivated and wild. With regard to the former, the Centre would thus be of benefit to the local community and the country at large through real, hands-on projects that have the potential of creating synergies between environmental managers, research students and the various stakeholders. With proper facilitation, key actors in agriculture can be brought on board for various initiatives, such as where agricultural land abandonment is concerned.

While the agricultural component of this initiative can assist the farming community in no small way, primarily through advice but also through the establishment of pilot initiatives in areas of cultivation and animal husbandry, the project will also focus on issues pertaining to conservation, such as restoration ecology, wildlife corridors (linkages in the landscape) and stakeholders participation. This aspect of the project would also consider indigenous knowledge amongst the local population, thus also comprising two-way exchanges of knowledge. Hence, the setting up of the Centre has the potential of a win-win situation, whereby the rural landscape is safeguarded in the long-term for the benefit of the farming community, wildlife in general and the aesthetic value of Gozo per se. The fundamental strategy of this Centre will revolve around stakeholder participation not only with respect to training and information, but also with respect to direct stakeholder involvement in research activity.

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Aims and objectivesThe central mission of the proposed Centre shall be research, education and dissemination of knowledge and technologies in Mediterranean agriculture, food production and environmental management.

The Centre can be transformed into a model research station concentrating on various specialty aspects including Mediterranean agricultural sciences, agri-ecosystem management, agri-tourism, speciality/natural foods processing and certification, rural development, agricultural engineering and ecological restoration. Furthermore, the research station will include an animal research department where in-vivo investigations are carried out following an in-vitro trial stage conducted at the Tal- Qroqq campus.

Gozo lends itself perfectly for such initiative, given its predominant rural landscape and its reliance on agriculture, both in terms of produce and landscape. The Centre thus has the potential of becoming a centre of excellence for rural sciences, not only nationally but within the broader Mediterranean region, providing for linkages between natural and life sciences and socio-cultural and economic facets. Effective integration with existing facilities will also be sought, specifically with reference to the two existing government nurseries, and the sewage treatment plant. In the latter case, the Centre could serve to provide insights on the effects of treated sewage effluent on the health and wellbeing of soil and produce.

The research facility will furthermore be outward looking and will seek to develop and enhance relevant partnerships with stakeholders (including farmers and the private sector) through appropriate facilitation mechanisms. Its innovative aspects will include integrated research across related sectors and the establishment of functional linkages with related stakeholders.

In this respect, the proposed Centre would serve as a pilot initiative in linking science with policy-making and on-the-ground management. The Centre would furthermore provide opportunities for intra-university collaboration. In addition to the work envisaged in areas of crop farming and animal husbandry, the Institute for Earth Systems would provide applied research and teaching expertise in the areas of landscape ecology and restoration, biodiversity conservation and environmental management systems as well participatory methods for stakeholder involvement in rural conservation and decision-taking. The Centre would provide ample opportunities for hands-on research in these and related fields.

The Centre will also provide space and support for postgraduate research in related fields, linking with a drive towards enhanced innovative capacity and knowledge transfer. The Centre – together with a strong national drive to ameliorate in this respect - has a potential of increasing Malta’s performance in innovation and knowledge transfer, possibly aiding in the country’s improved performance on the

18Current state of the project (October 2011)Various initiatives have already been put in motion to effect the transformation. The office-buildings, farm structures and other elements present on the farm are being upgraded, refurbished and in some cases replaced by modern state-of-the-art facilities. Animal housing is being modernised, including, poultry, small ruminants and cattle. The existing dilapidated greenhouses have been dismantled and work is under way to erect modern high-tech units. The antiquated irrigation system is also being replaced. Water availability is one of the main constraints operating against agricultural production at the farm. Water storage facilities are therefore being upgraded in order to improve water catchment and increase capacity. Finally, some buildings previously used for animal housing are being converted into modern laboratories catering for agricultural, environmental and genetic sciences.It is envisaged that the conversion will be completed by the end of 2013, although research will be undertaken before this finalisation date as soon as particular aspects of the transformation are completed. In fact some research projects have already started such as genetic and husbandry studies on the Maltese black breed of chicken referred to as tigiega sewda ta’ Malta.

Lisbon Review of 2006. It is widely understood that the competitiveness of the country rests on how quickly and effectively it can increase its innovative capacity. The upgrading of Gozo’s government experimental farm into a modern research facility, focusing on Mediterranean agricultural and environmental sciences is an ideal instrument to implement significant improvements in the innovative capacity of the country in agriculture, as planned in the National Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation for 2007-2010. Moreover, the Gozo research farm facility could also seek to cooperate with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the centre of excellence in education, research and cooperation in Mediterranean agriculture, food and sustainable rural development.

Such a set-up in Gozo would provide excellent possibilities for primary research both within the grounds of the Centre as also beyond. In the case of the latter, the Centre would provide a base for researchers (Gozitan, Maltese as also foreign) utilising the island of Gozo as ‘field laboratory’, for example, in areas of landscape ecology and other areas of the rural sciences, which effectively link the natural sciences with the social and economic dimensions.

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ConclusionThe conversion of the Experimental Farm at Xewkija into a state-of the art Research and Innovation Centre is Gozo’s pilot-project for AGRISLES. The project is being undertaken jointly by the Ministry for Gozo and the University of Malta through the Institute of Earth Systems. When completed, the Centre will give researchers and students the opportunities for research into Gozo-related agricultural and ecological topics. Such research is expected to focus on the characterization and promotion of local crop cultivars and livestock breeds, innovation concerning processing of agricultural products, ecological and landscape aspects of the Gozitan environment. The results of such research will of course be transmitted to all stakeholders – farmers, livestock breeders, food processors and agro-tourism operators. Within the context of the AGRISLES project, Gozo and Corsica have developed a particularly close exchange of experiences between their two projects relating to the conversion into innovation centres of their experimental farms of Xewkija in Gozo and Altiani in Corsica. This tight bilateral exchange could be the starting point of a wider cooperation among innovation centres for the islands within the development of the AGRISLES network.

References

Eco-Gozo – a better Gozo (www.eco-gozo.com)

Census of Agriculture 2010, National Statistics Office, Malta. (Available online at http://www.nso.gov.mt/statdoc/document_file.aspx?id=2069)

Ministry for Gozo (www.gozo.gov.mt)

Institute for Earth Systems, University of Malta (http://www.um.edu.mt/ies)

Governo dos Açores

The partners of the MED AGRISLES project, representing public authorities in charge of agriculture and rural development in the Balearic islands (Spain), Corsica (France, project lead partner), Sardinia and Sicily (Italy), Gozo (Malta), the Northern Sporades (Thessaly) and North-Aegean archipelagos (Greece), the Cyprus island (Cyprus) and the Azores (Portugal), altogether are exchanging experiences and developing a common method for non-technological innovation in agriculture and rural development. They publish a series of booklets to disseminate identified best practices on this issue.

This booklet gives an overview of the rural sector of the island region of Gozo, Malta and also describes a success story of non-technological innovation on the island. It also aims to demonstrate the development prospects and the problems of the local rural sector and to describe how a non-technological innovative intervention led to the upgrade of a specific component of Gozo’s agricultural infrastructure. The information provided is derived from relevant literature analysis and field work which was carried out for the purposes of Gozo’s Pilot Project for AGRISLES.

www.agrisles.eu

THE AGRISLES SUCCESS STORIES BOOKLETS SERIES