65
Land tenure and other social relations overall were transformed during the colonial era
and the period after independence. There was a shift in power from local customary
authorities first to the colonial government and later to the independent Mozambican central
government. This shift undermined tenure security in the area and created dependent and
unequal economic relationships (Tanner, Myers, and Oad 1993). These relationships—as well
as simultaneous land shortages—were intensified by the war, particularly as more and more
people fled into the area south of the river and closer to the boundaries of the city.
4. LAND ACCESS AND TENURE DURING THE CIVIL WAR
Chokwe District was much richer than Chibuto before the war. It had direct access to the
rail line and roads to Maputo. In addition, the irrigation complex and most of the state farms
in the province were situated in Chokwe District. Then, after independence, the government
invested heavily in these schemes and permitted the state farms to borrow substantial sums
of money from Mozambican banks. As the war progressed, the government was forced to
invest heavily in defending Chokwe; because of infrastructure created and other defense
spending, many war refugees entered the district, bringing their cattle and other movable
resources with them.
War-displaced farmers inundated the city of Chokwe beginning in the late 1980s. The
population and boundaries of the city expanded considerably; bairros were established to hold
the displaced. Many people came from across the river or from the area northwest of Matuba,
but others fled from communal or other villages that were no longer secure. Before the war
began, there were many settlements along the road from Chokwe to Macarretane. As the war
intensified, people escaped to the relative safety of the city. Those displaced from these areas
went to Bairros Three, Four, and Five.
As the civil war progressed, drawing resources from the central and provincial
governments, many smallholders were able to escape the confines of the communal villages
and farm their original lands, in a few cases reestablishing homesteads. Other relocated
farmers, who were not as fortunate, were forced to use land in the area south of the rail line,
between Matuba Aldeia and Bairro Four (see map 8). This land was later taken over by the
thousands displaced by war and drought in the 1980s, however. These aldeias grew
considerably in population once they were established; their allocated lands had become
deficient in expanse by the late 1980s while their soil quality deteriorated with its continual
use.
The irrigation scheme was restructured in 1984 and divided into ten smaller production
units of approximately 2,000 hectares each. These production units included Massavasse,
Conhane, and Chilembene, three of the largest farms. The most generous amount of land
reportedly went to smallholders in 1984 when 9,000 hectares of the 33,000-hectare scheme
were divested. 122 Rights to the best land were acquired by the private sector.' In many
122. It is unclear how much of this land actually went to smallholders, for many private sector interests
received land that was designated as family sector land and theoretically reserved for the family sector. See
Tanner, Myers, and Oad (1993); and Myers and Tanner (1992).
123. Ibid.