Research on the land tenure system in Mozambique (April - September 2004, A. Bossel)

The research relates to the land conflicts in Mozambique and the role of NGO’s in this field. This question has been studied through Community natural resources management programs carried out in Mozambique by the NGO Helvetas. The research concentrates on the incidence of the system of land tenure on land conflicts, on the living conditions and on nature conservancy. The work has followed a sociological approach and has been carried out from a multi-disciplinary point of view referring to the contributions of law, ecology, the economy and political sciences.

Based on the concept of sustainability, the community natural resources management programs in Mozambique implements a recent and innovative legislative framework in reference to natural resources and the land tenure system. In theory, this framework guarantees the rights of the local population of their lands and their resources versus the interests of the State and private investors. Nevertheless, the diffusion and the enforcement of these laws encounter great difficulties, in particular in marginal areas with strong constraints. The research examined these difficulties, to estimate the relevance and the limitations of the legal and institutional framework while evaluating the action of the principal actors.

Key results of the research can be stated as follow:

1. Conflicts on natural resources use are permanent in Mozambique and are becoming more accurate due to the current unbalanced economical growth. The new Land and Forest laws appear to be unhelpful to mitigate these conflicts.
2. The recent legal and institutional framework still needs to be enforced in order to provide concrete benefits for the local communities and for nature conservancy. At the moment, there is profound lack of understanding regarding the practical ways for implementing the legal bases at the local level. This situation is worsened by the fact that Mozambican elite see the new legal framework as a threat for their business interests and for their speculative operation on land.
3. The fact that natural resources, including land, are own by the state is contested at high political level and also by the business community. This undermines NGO and Community based association efforts to yield benefits from the application of the legal framework.
4. NGO and Community based association struggle for the application of the laws but with very limited successes. Numerous communities based natural resources management projects failed due to the lack of support from government entities.
5. The recent drive to political and administrative decentralization (or de-concentration) widely supported by the donors community generate surprising side-effects regarding natural resources management. Unelected so-called “community leaders” are now playing a decisive role on land allocation but not necessarily in the interest of their community members. Ironically, these community leaders appear (with their uniform and the national flag in front of their house) and acts as in the colonial time.

 

The research concluded a DESS in human ecology and provided essential information for the report prepared by the student. The latter benefited from a privileged access to information from a recognized NGO and allowed to be familiarized with its organization and its activities. Additionally, the research enabled Helvetas to evaluate its action in the fields of land tenure and natural resources management and provided recommendations for the formulation of Helvetas new “Strategic plan of Maputo province (2004-2009)".

Partners institutions:

Université de Lausanne
Institut de géographie
BSFH 2
1015 Dorigny
Suisse
M. Ronald Jaubert
+41 (021) 692 36 13

Université Eduardo Mondlane
Faculté d’agronomie
Edif. 1, campus universitaire
Maputo
Mozambique
M. Jose Negrão
+258 (01) 49 35 61

Helvetas
Av. Ahmed Sekou Touré
Maputo
Mozambique
M. Luis Dinis
+258 (1) 32 15 95