As evidence in this report will show, there is indeed a need to initiate a comprehensive
discussion on land policy reform, natural resource management, and decentralized control
over resources. This discussion must address fundamental questions about what types of land
rights will exist or, more specifically, what types of property rights will be permitted; who
will have the power to distribute land rights; and how and by whom land disputes will be
settled. For example: Will property rights be freehold, private leasehold, or state leasehold?
Will individuals be permitted to buy and sell land or land rights? Will the law recognize
community, lineage, family, and individual land rights? Will the state, customary authorities,
or some "democratically" selected body distribute land and land rights? Will state or
customary law be used to resolve disputes? Will local chiefs, state officials, locally selected
leaders, or a combination of these parties hear disputes?
At the heart of these questions lie even more profound issues relating to the role and
nature of the state and other political institutions, the relationships of these institutions with
the citizens, and the form and nature of governance in Mozambique. In this report we will
raise several concerns with regard to land that we hope will help policymakers in
Mozambique define the parameters of this discussion.
This paper reports the, results of a year-long study focusing on land access in Mozambique
in the postwar period. As researchers we wanted to understand how smallholders and larger
commercialized interests gained and maintained access to land, and how formerly displaced
people gained or reacquired land. We were interested in the way smallholders (reintegrating
refugees, displaced families, and others), larger commercial interests, and joint-venture
enterprises used the formal or customary legal system to acquire and hold their land. We also
sought to understand the relationships between larger commercial interests and smallholders,
and between these two groups and the state with regard to land. We were particularly
interested in the way authority (both formal and customary) exercises control over land and
natural resources and how this authority is perceived by all landholders.
This report is organized into six sections. The following section presents a brief
discussion of research objectives, concepts, and methodology. In the third section we
summarize the land tenure systems—formal and customary—and the processes of land access
and acquisition at a general level in Mozambique. The formal land-tenure system, land
administration, and land laws are reviewed and their limitations discussed. We consider land
availability and scarcity and state-granted land concessions. Data are presented to illuminate
the location and origin of these concessions. Customary land law and methods of access are
examined and the limitations of this tenure system are noted. We summarize what we have
learned about the reintegrating populations and how they are gaining access to land. Finally,
we discuss land conflicts in Mozambique. The overall objective of this section is to present
a global picture of how people are manipulating the land tenure systems to gain access to land
and how these systems are either guaranteeing or denying security of rights. This section will
create a framework within which to understand the cases studied.
In the fourth section we discuss the findings from four case studies and their implications
for economic development and political stability as well as for the transformation of the state
and the evolution of government, or more possibly the devolution of political control over