Drought crisis
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Eugenio Cabezas
Axarquía
Thursday, 15 August 2024, 18:20
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The agricultural sector in Malaga is not going through the best of times due to the extreme drought still affecting the province.
In an attempt to alleviate the difficult situation, Malaga's Diputación (provincial authority) has set the deadline for submitting applications for the five million euros in aid to support the agri-food, agricultural, livestock and fishery sectors in the province in view of the serious situation caused by the lack of rainfall over the last five years. Applications from companies and the self-employed must be submitted by 9am on 28 August.
President of the Diputación and mayor of Rincón de la Victoria, Francisco Salado, explained that this call for applications was published last Monday in the Official Provincial Gazette (BOP) and provides for the granting of aid on a non-competitive basis, or rather, it will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Salado announced in a press statement that, as a new feature this year, the possibility of covering the cost of buying water for the livestock sector is being considered, thus meeting one of the demands of farm and livestock owners in the face of the lack of water due to the drought crisis.
Salado stressed that the main objective is to help this important sector of economic activity in the province, which helps to consolidate the population in inland municipalities and is the food-basket of Malaga. "Farmers and livestock farmers in particular have had a very difficult time in recent years due to the effects of the drought and the significant increase in production costs," said Salado. He also pointed out that this is the fourth aid plan for the primary sector and the agri-food industry in the province offered by the Diputación. A total of 11.8 million euros have been allocated to these three previous calls for proposals, and 1,811 companies and self-employed workers have benefited from the subsidies.
In addition, the provincial authority has clarified that one of the requirements for accessing this year's subsidies is that individuals or companies that have received aid from the institution for the same purpose since 1 January 2022 are not eligible to re-apply. The call establishes a line of aid, with a maximum amount to be granted of 6,000 euros per company, to meet current expenses such as contributions to the special Social Security schemes for self-employed workers, including agricultural workers and fishermen, or the costs of renting property where the economic activity is conducted.
The costs of production, food, feed, transport or, for example, the amount paid for the purchase of oxygen for aquaculture facilities are also subsidised. In the fishing sector, funding is provided for bait, salt, ice, supplies and tackle. The second line of financing is for investment expenses such as machinery, tools, equipment, other installations and greenhouses. Likewise, expenses for changes in cultivation or irrigation methods can be considered, as well as the purchase of tractors, vans and trailers.
For this type of aid, when the cost of the project, excluding IVA (Spain's sales tax), is less than or equal to 10,000 euros, a grant will be awarded for 100% of the total amount of the project. When the cost exceeds 10,000 euros, excluding IVA, the amount of the subsidy will be 85% of the project with a maximum of 14,000 euros. The period during which the eligible expenses must be spent is between 1 March 2024 and 31 March 2025, thus allowing for expenses incurred prior to the publication of the call for proposals, provided that they have been spent within the indicated period.
For its part, the Asaja (the young farmers' association) in Malaga has expressed its "dissatisfaction with the limitations of the new call for aid to farmers and livestock farmers called for the fourth consecutive year by the Diputación". It went on: "With the new wording for this call, they are denying access to aid to all the young farmers who've recently set up operations, and these make up a large part of our productive fabric in the province that is mostly based on small farms".
Asaja also argued that "after a year of struggles and rallying cries, demanding streamlining and simplification of bureaucracy, we see how the Diputación de Malaga, to which we are grateful for the previous calls for their simplicity, agility and ease of processing, has fallen into the trap of complicating the processing by introducing changes that affect and limit access to the much-needed five million euros, plus the 2.5 that are pending a budget increase, to a large number of farms in our province". "On the other hand, we are grateful for the fact that they are putting out money year after year to help recover the productive potential of our farms," they added in a statement.
For this association of young farmers, "on paper it is easy and tempting to propose objectives, but the consequences of their application leave countless wounded along the way". "To say that the aid should only be applied to those who earn more than 50% of their income from agriculture is to not know the reality of the industry that our Diputación represents".
"The reality of our agriculture and livestock farming is made up of small and medium-sized farms that sustain this activity in most of the villages of the province. Asking this requirement of young farmers and livestock breeders who set up in the last year also leaves them out of the running, as they do not yet have sufficient income from their activity to be able to demonstrate this 50% requirement. And it is in their early stages that they need the most support and, contrary to what is promulgated to favour their incorporation, in this case it excludes them".
For Asaja, "the case of civil societies without a legal figurehead and communities of goods [for example, co-operatives] is a very widespread figure to maintain the viability of farms so they can continue with their business activity; they are mainly formed by several members and on the basis of a percentage of participation". "The CAP [the EU's Common Agriculture Policy], which was initially more restrictive, relaxed this requirement for only one of the members to meet the requirements of 'farmer' so that the group could acquire the status of 'active farmer' to be able to receive aid. However, at regional level it is permitted, and there are numerous civil societies and communities of property that qualify as 'priority holdings', with only one or some of the members fulfilling the requirements. The wording of this call leaves out most of these figures to require the obligation be applied to all members of these groups".
"In short, we regret that the provincial government has fallen into the trap of 'limiting' aid that was well-designed and that does not exist in other provinces, unfairly leaving out a large part of our agricultural and livestock farms". Asaja recalled that they opposed the introduction of this limitation "and warned of the damage that could be caused". "A damage that we now see reflected in the published terms and conditions, which had aroused so much expectation among farmers and livestock breeders in Malaga, and that we have been disseminating in informative talks in several towns in the province," they said.
On the other hand, Asaja has expressed its gratitude for "the introduction of the purchase of water for livestock among the items eligible for aid, given the overwhelming situation of drought that we have been suffering and to which many livestock farms in our province have difficulty accessing, as well as the fact that the processing will begin at 9am, as in previous editions it began at 12 midnight".
"At Asaja Malaga we have prepared an exceptional arrangement to be able to process these grants in our offices in the most speedy and convenient way for our members, on a first-come, first-served basis. Despite the fact that this is a time of year when many have planned their holidays, the arrangements are guaranteed. We would like to remind you that another of our requests, which was finally rejected, was to launch the call for applications on a date other than one in August, due to all the complications that this entails".
For their part, the other two large agriculture and livestock organisations represented in the province, UPA and COAG, have valued the aid. In a statement UPA Malaga said it valued the "economic effort" of the Diputación given to the agricultural and livestock sectors in the province at "a delicate time".
Furthermore, "although in previous calls the budget was higher", the secretary general of UPA Malaga, Francisco Moscoso, is confident that "these five million will be increased with possible cash flow reinstatements of another 2.5 million more". "We appreciate the Diputación's commitment to the farmers and livestock breeders of our land. And, above all, we would like to highlight the predisposition of the delegate for Sustainable Economic Development, Esperanza González, who in all the meetings we have held with her has been open to our proposals and very receptive," he added.
Moscoso recalled that this is aid that will allow farmers and livestock breeders in Malaga whose income from farming activity exceeds 50% of the total, "to benefit from money that is very much needed at the present time". He is equally thankful for the "expenditure on the purchase of water for livestock, a measure that we have demanded in previous years due to the critical situation that our livestock farmers are particularly going through".
However, Moscoso has announced the presentation of "measures to improve the next calls for applications, such as the approval of aid for those young farmers and livestock breeders who take over from their parents and who cannot meet the requirement of 50% of income from agricultural activity because they have no previous income".
"Malaga's Diputación will always support UPA in everything that benefits small and medium-sized farmers in our province, family-run and commercial agriculture. This aid is along these lines and serves as an economic mini-boost at a delicate time. But everything can be improved and with this disposition we will sit down at the next round of meetings to improve a single call for applications in Andalucía. And, of course, the experts in our offices in Malaga, Antequera, Ronda and Velez-Malaga will begin to process the aid as of now," concluded Moscoso.
Turning to COAG Malaga's (an association of farmers and livestock breeders) opinion on this subject, they also value the publication of a new call for aid and have thanked "the effort" made by the Diputación "and especially its president, Francisco Salado, and the delegate for this area, Esperanza González, to financially support farmers and livestock breeders who are having the worst time". Provincial secretary for COAG Malaga, Antonio Rodríguez, stressed that this new line of aid "presents positive changes in terms of access requirements with respect to other calls".
Among others, Rodríguez said that priority is given to farmers and livestock breeders with an income coming at least 50% from agricultural activity, "which ensures that this money goes to help those professionals who have no other income and who, in times of crisis, are forced to close their farms, and that aid is not received, for example as has happened in other calls, by owners of hotels with only half a hectare of olive trees".
Another of the requirements welcomed by COAG Malaga is the continuation of not being eligible for aid all those who obtained aid in previous calls, "so it is guaranteed that all professionals in the sectors will be able to access it at some point". "We are aware that there are things to improve, but we would like to emphasise that the Diputación is receptive to proposals for rectification from the agricultural organisations, with whom it holds meetings whenever necessary," concluded Rodríguez.
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