The name is absent

11

III. AN OVERVIEW OF LAND ACCESS
IN POSTWAR MOZAMBIQUE

People gain access to land in Mozambique either through the formal or statutory system or
through informal or customary systems. In this section we summarize what we have learned
about formal and customary land tenure and the limitations of these systems. We note the
types of rights people are acquiring. We also address the question of land availability or
scarcity and discuss the impact of state-granted land concessions on land access and disputes
in Mozambique. Finally, we illustrate how contradictions between formal and customary
systems of land tenure are leading to land conflicts throughout the country.

A. ACCESS UNDER STATUTORY LAND LAW

1. LAND LAW

The constitution and subsequent legislation enacted in Mozambique after independence
in 1975 were greatly influenced by the experiences and laws of neighboring countries. The
leaders of newly independent Mozambique were particularly motivated by developments in
Tanzania as well as in other Lusophone African countries. Many of Mozambique's policies
with regard to production systems and property rights were modeled after those articulated
in Tanzania; therefore, it is not surprising that Mozambique nationalized land shortly after
independence. ¹⁹

The constitution and two subsequent pieces of legislation articulated and defined land law
and the formal land tenure system. ARTICLE 8 of the Constitution of the People's Republic
of Mozambique (1975) states: "The land and the natural resources located in the soil and
subsoil, in territorial waters and on Mozambique's continental shelf, are owned by the state.
The state shall decide the conditions for their exploitation and use."' The 1975 Constitution
further declares that all land in the country belongs to the people through the state. It is clear
that a central intention of this law was to liberate (i.e., nationalize) land from foreign interests
that had, in many instances, stolen land and resources from the people of Mozambique; in
this respect its goals may be considered laudable. However, a second intention of the law was
to strip "large" landowners of their resources and to give land "back" to the Mozambican
people. It is at this point that the intention of the law becomes problematic. Many middle-
class nationals, both black and white, lost legally acquired resources. As a result, foreign as

19. For a discussion of the early political evolution of FRELIMO, see Isaacman and Isaacman (1983);
Machel (1974, 1975); Mondlane (1969); Munslow (1983); Egero (1990); Saul (1973, 1985); Vail and White
(1980); and First (1983).

20. See also ART. 35 of the 1975 Constitution.

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