122
peace accord, some Malawians were attempting to reclaim rights and that this was causing
conflicts between Mozambicans and Malawians. 281
As a result of Mozambicans' entering the area along with natural population increase
since the war (from births and marriages), smallholders admitted that there were land
shortages along the border, particularly around Calomue village. The local community
discussed the problem and appointed their chief (Nhacuacua) to contact locality government
officials. The village requested that the district authorize the reoccupation of colonial holdings
in the area. The community had not yet received a response to their petition when the study
was conducted. In the interim, the community asked for land from other nearby villages,
including Tchabualo. Some people were granted temporary use rights.'"
The lands around M'Languene were of considerable interest to our investigation not only
because the area is densely populated but also because a high number of land conflicts had
been reported. M'Languene is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Ulongue (see map
20). It is situated near the Malawi border. In 1989 the district registered a population density
of 32 persons per square kilometer, more than twice the average density of the nation.283 We
know that many smallholders have moved or returned to this area since the peace accord was
signed, so we think that the population has grown since 1989. We interviewed smallholders
in Bachone and Chipala villages. 284 Many smallholders admitted that they continued to farm
on Mozambican land nearest to the border during the war; however, it is clear that these
farmers would have exploited any land available, whether it was theirs or not.
Most of the local inhabitants returned to the area after the peace accord was signed.
Locality government officials advise that the population is significantly higher now than it was
in the prewar period. Customary authorities, smallholders, and locality officials point to a
number of land conflicts both among s2m85allholders and between smallholders and nonlocal
commercial producers in the last year.
Most conflicts among smallholders involve returning refugees who have not respected old
family boundaries. These conflicts are being resolved largely by local customary officials.
Some conflicts are between displaced families and newly arriving farmers who are not
historically from the area. The outcome of these disputes is undetermined (Eliseu 1994).
Another set of conflicts between smallholders and nonlocal commercial producers resulted in
violent confrontations. These are discussed below.
281. Interviews with smallholders on the frontier, Dedza, February 1994.
282. Interviews with smallholder farmers, Calomue, February 1994.
283. Interview with representative of Directorate of Agriculture, Angonia District, Ulongue, February 1994.
284. Our field map of this area, also illustrating the CAIA holdings, was not prepared at time of publication.
It is available, however, through the Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
285. Interview with M'Languene locality government representative, February 1994. This point was
confirmed by the provincial director of agriculture and the provincial governor at the recent Second National
Land Policy Conference in Mozambique. See Weiss and Myers (1994); and Myers and Weiss (1994).