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land rights because the government retracted some of the land granted to them and permitted
smallholders to farm it. In these cases tenure security was explicitly defined for neither
commercial nor smallholder producers. At the same time, smallholders are aggressively
defending their own interests, in one area driving off some of the nonlocal commercial
producers. In a dispute over sacred lands, there was a violent demonstration that resulted in
casualties. In another case, local smallholders presented their complaint to district officials,
who suggested that the private farmer return part of the area to local inhabitants. Yet the
smallholders refused to accept the proposal, demanding the return of the entire concession and
threatening to drive out the commercial producer. Although the issue was still pending at the
time of the last investigation, smallholders had peremptorily squatted on some of the land,
reducing the private commercial farmer's access to part of the holding. Other commercial
farmers in the area have been pressured by smallholders to return part or all of the land they
were granted.'
District government officials acknowledged that they were not titling or registering land
concessions in the area until the disputes were resolved. Smallholders suggested that the
government should demarcate their lands and prevent commercial producers from occupying
those areas (Eliseu 1994).
The last site investigated in Angonia covered the terrain around Domue, the location of
a second CAIA production block. This locale also was chosen because of its fertile lands, its
location along the transportation corridor, and its high number of reported conflicts. Domue
is located approximately 45 kilometers northwest of Ulongue (maps 19 and 20). In February
1994, the NGO World Food Program estimated its population, including both government-
and RENAMO-administered areas, at 116,108 people.
Land conflicts among smallholders and between smallholders and commercial producers
in this area have been reported in the popular press. Our research confirmed these stories.'
Returning refugees complained of conflicts with other refugees because of confusion over land
rights. The difficulty stems from the colonial period when villages (aldeamentos) were created
and smallholders were forced to aba2n95don their lands, at which time numerous villages were
created in the area around Domue. The confusion was compounded by the government
after independence, when smallholders were again required to live in communal villages.'
When smallholders began to return to the area, district authorities told them to go to their
areas of origin or areas of choice. This poorly conceived plan brought on a number of
confrontations. Authorities presumably thought smallholders would return to the lands
293. This lack of clarity over rights and the struggles between commercial and smallholder producers in both
M'Languene and Dome (another CAIA production area) was debated in the Second National Land Conference.
The governor of Tete, Sr. Mutemba, concurred that there were land conflicts in these two areas.
294. They were also confirmed by other researchers in the area, including Nina Berg, Norwegian Refugee
Council, personal communication, November 1993; and Virgilio Ferrao, chair, Ad Hoc Land Commission,
Ministry of Agriculture, November 1993.
295. See DINAGECA, district and provincial maps, Maputo. This is confirmed in Coehlo (1993).
296. Ibid.