The Mgarr Farmers Cooperative which is found at Żebbiegħ started to be formed towards the year 1946 and was officially registered on the 24th of July 1947.
As soon as the second World War ended, life in Malta was not very easy or comfortable and one of the sectors that could offer relief to the Maltese people was farming. The majority of the Maltese were farmers, animal breeders and fishermen. Many of the families tilled land to live by and so that out of the products it yielded, they would set aside some profits. Naturally, as is usually the case throughout the years, especially in times of scarcity of products, businessmen take the opportunity to make the best of the circumstances by getting paid well for bringing products to the consumer, consequently, the products used to fetch a minimal price for the farmer while they charged the consumer a very high price, much higher than the producer was getting. Thus, in the farming sector, diverse small groups were being born around the island and in some districts started to form Farmers’ Cooperatives. The Mgarr farmers responded to this trend by forming the Mgarr Farmers Cooperative.
Piju Muscat known as ta’ Ġanna, Piju Camilleri known as ta’ l-Aħmar, and Karmenu Muscat known as it-Tutu started to meet in a local tea shop (tal-Fina) to plan how to form the Mgarr Farmers Cooperative. They sought farmers and urged them to become members of this cooperative. According to the meetings’ minutes, up to the first general meeting held on the 18th March 1948 the said members amounted to 12. From among these twelve members, seven were chosen to form the first management committee. These were Piju Vella, Piju Muscat (President), Piju Camilleri, Paċikk Galea, Karmenu Muscat (tal-abjad-Tutu), Wenzu Vella and Ġużeppi Grima.
The first decision taken in this general meeting was as an unanimous vote and was that the cooperative would become a member of the Farmers Central Cooperative. This step was important since the Farmers Central Cooperative already embraced several other primary cooperatives, buying from them farmers’ products and selling them in its markets.
The first systems were: the organization of how member farmers took their products to the market and a voucher system that served for the relative payment to farmers. Other systems advantageous to members were the sale of fodder and fertilizer at a favourable price while at the same time yielding some profits necessary to pay for the business expenses. According to the minutes, minimal profits resulted in just one year. Collections from these same members were added to these profits to generate a capital so that the cooperative could function.
Substantially, the first ten years of its action was based on a full relationship with the Farmers Central Cooperative because of the fact that the main work of the members was the production and sale of the products in the market of the Central Cooperative.
From here, the cooperative saw an advancement with the building of the Żebbiegħ Centre and kept moving on. This came about always through the full commitment of the management committee and the warehouse workers, as well as through the loyalty of the same members.
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