Leader - More Information

Leader: A new approach for Maltese Rural Funding

Since its inception in 1991, the Community initiative Leader became widely recognized as having been a successful and innovative pilot instrument to mobilise local actors in a bottom-up, territorial and integrated approach to pursue local development in rural areas.

A distinctive feature of Leader is the implementation of integrated development programmes for local rural areas, drawn up and implemented by broad-based local partnerships, called Local Action Groups (LAGs)

The New Leader will play at least three main roles that of:


Leader as a Tool for Endogenous Local Development

The main advantage of bottom-up approaches is that the LAG can mobilise more local resources for the development process. This happens both because local actors have a better knowledge of the resources opportunities available and because they have a greater sense of ownership and commitment to the projects.


The Leader Axis as a governance tool for building the organisational capacity of rural community

Leader local action groups in other member states have played a major role in bringing together all the public, private and civil organisations operating in a given territory and progressively creating the methods and knowledge of working together for common goals.

Leader will help Maltese actors to generate a sense of local identity which goes beyond narrow village boundaries.

Leader will increase the organisational capacity of rural communities (reinforcement of the local management and project development capacity). It also means developing trust, long term structures, experience and expertise, achieved through help under the measure “acquisition of skills”.


The Leader Axis as a tool for stimulating innovation

Leader can play a valuable role in stimulating new and innovative approaches to the development of rural areas. Such innovation is encouraged by allowing LAGs wide margins of freedom and flexibility in making decisions about the actions they want to support. This has a major impact on the design of the eligibility rules in the programmes.

Innovation needs to be understood in a wide sense. Innovation is not necessarily defined in terms of hi tech novelties. It is simply seen as finding new solutions to an areas needs. In this sense every area, no matter, how undeveloped, can benefit from an innovation strategy adapted to its most pressing problems. Innovation may also mean the introduction of a new product, a new process or a new organisation or a new market.


Leader in Malta

Leader is a new concept in Malta as no Leader approach measure where adopted during the old programming period (2004-2006). Maltese Rural areas will benefit from Leader under the new Rural Development Program (2007-2013).

Local Action Groups must be set up in the rural areas as to develop and implement a Local Development Strategy in the selected territory. The territory chosen must be coherent with a critical mass greater than 5,000 and not exceeding the 150,000 inhabitants. An exception to this rule is given in case of 1 LAG is formed for all the island of Malta. Representatives involved in the LAG must be both from the Public and Private sectors. Local Councils and other Government entities will represent the Public Sector, while the social economic partners and other civil society will be represented by farmers, rural women, youths, NGOs and other private organisations willing to take part.

A maximum of 3 LAGs will be supported under the EAFRD, two for Malta and one for Gozo. LAGs recognised by the Managing Authority, must implement the Local Strategy developed by them for the territory. To put into practice the bottom-up approach LAGs will be responsible for the selection of the project by setting up a Decision Body formed from the representatives involved in the LAG. As stated by the EAFRD regulation private representatives on the Decision Body must be in majority.

A number of Thematic Working Groups are formed by the LAG as to support the Decision Body in their decisions. The Working Group is formed from region experts concerning the project. The Working Groups can also be formed with the aim to guide applicants in their projects.

The LAGs can also carry out cooperation project between different LAGs in Malta and/or even within other countries, members or non members of the EU.

agric.gov.mt