Ensuring small farmers' access to landMozambique is very thinly populated and has land in abundance. However, when it comes to the most desirable tracts of land -- such as land alongside rivers or near main roads -- there already is severe population pressure, especially in the Limpopo Valley or the green belts around Maputo and Beira.
All land was nationalized shortly after independence. The constitution states that all property in land vests in the state, and that land may not be sold, mortgaged or otherwise alienated. This is one of the few areas where the laws of the market do not hold, and where the government has no intention of privatizing. It is feared that if a market in land were introduced, social polarization in the countryside would rapidly worsen, with the establishment of large estates in the hands of a few rich landowners, alongside a growing class of landless farmers.
Land tenure does not take the form of ownership, but of use rights.
In the case of small-scale farmers, that right is free of charge. A 1997
land law acknowledges the land tenure rights of local communities and of
individuals who, in good faith, have occupied land for at least 10 years.
Photo: AIM
/ Ferhat Momade
Companies and individuals wishing to acquire land
for commercial purposes must first hold consultations with the local community,
and obtain a written opinion from the district administrator. Only then
can they obtain authorization to use the land. This mechanism is designed
to ensure that rich people from the cities can no longer arrive in the countryside,
wave a document farmers do not understand, and occupy their land. The government,
however, does not yet have the capacity to effectively enforce such regulations.
