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The Malta and Gozo pilot

Farms usually under one hectare, a workforce mostly over 45, young people leaving: why Malta's plan picks small enabling steps over big reforms.

Why does the Malta RAP choose small enabling actions over structural reform, and what are those actions?

The barriers are skills, confidence, small scale and fragmented support among smallholders, so the RAP starts where farmers are. It proposes hands-on digital demonstrations, low-barrier skills training, guidance to existing funds, peer learning through local champions, and youth innovation events such as the MaYA ideathon.

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Malta and Gozo: digital and business skills for a shrinking farm workforce

main tellingexample world: maltadepth: standard3 min markdown

Malta is the smallest EU country, 313 km², and with Gozo it forms a very compact rural-urban system. Agriculture competes there with scarce land, scarce natural resources and development pressure, yet it still shapes the islands’ landscape and food culture.

Terraced fields on Gozo

Terraced fields on Gozo. Photo: PoliRuralPlus pilot materials (RP9), poliruralplus.eu

TerritoryMalta and Gozo
PartnerAcrossLimits, AL (lead; the only partner)
ThemeDigital transformation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, with a focus on young people
RAPMalta RAP, version 1 (2025)
Open callsOutreach: AgriFusion (The Veg Box). Mobilise: MaYA Agri-Tech Ideathon. Develop: MALTESE

The challenge

The numbers explain the urgency. The agricultural labour force fell by 26.7 % between 2010 and 2020. In 2022 there were only 1,200 registered young farmers under 40, and only 23.7 % of agricultural workers are under 45. Average farms are under one hectare, insecure tenure discourages investment, and the islands depend heavily on imported fresh food. Young people see farming as outdated and economically unviable and leave for towns or other EU countries. Smallholders know little about digital tools such as IoT, CRM or e-commerce and have little access to training.

What the plan sets out

The RAP chooses enabling actions rather than large structural reforms. By 2028 it aims to help make locally produced food more visible and easier to sell, build digital and business skills among rural actors, and involve young people in agri-food value chains. The brief recommends:

Open calls and status

AgriFusion (Outreach) researched stakeholder views on sustainable agriculture and food security, and the RAP draws on it. The Malta Youth in Agriculture Foundation ran the MaYA Agri-Tech Ideathon (Mobilise). The Develop project MALTESE (Malta Agro-Leadership & Tech Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Empowerment), led by an Austrian organisation with Maltese and Hungarian partners, plans agro-leadership training, a localised AI assistant and an e-marketplace. The pilot web page lists no results yet. By its own description the RAP is modest in scale, a deliberate fit for an island of smallholders.

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