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The January 1994 field research in Chokwe showed that conditions had not changed much
in seven months. While many people in the outer areas and bairros of the city have moved,
many more have remained in the aldeias and in the city. It is unclear how many of these
individuals are staying because they have no place to go and how many are staying because
of opportunities that exist in Chokwe. However, people frequently reported both reasons for
not moving from their current location in the camps. As in Chibuto District, many individuals
future said that they were either fearful or convinced that the war would resume in the near
In January we witnessed many small plots being farmed along the road between the city
of Chokwe and the dam at Macarretane as well as between the rail line and the road (map 8).
All of the farmers in this latter category reportedly belong to displaced families, some of
whom come from Chokwe District but have no place to go. It is obvious that these
individuals, literally farming in the margins, have little or no tenure security. Research also
disclosed that some smallholders had succeeded in returning to land near the river, but that
they were hemmed in by large private commercial farms and joint-venture enterprises. They
complained that they had to walk long distances around these holdings to gain access to the
main roads and the city.
6. CONCERNS RAISED BY THE CASE OF CHOKWE AND CHIBUTO DISTRICTS
Research in both districts has elucidated several issues of concern. Government officials
feel that many of the landless peasants living in the region are displaced and will move back
to their lands of origin now that the war is over. Officials fail to recognize that many of the
displaced are actually from this area and thus have no other place to return to. Essentially
these smallholders have been dispossessed of their land and are trapped in the aldeias or
bairros. The problem is exacerbated by government officials, who continue to grant land
concessions in the area or who permit the expansion of private sector commercial and joint-
venture enterprises. This suggests another concern: Government believes both that it knows
where free land is located and that it has the capacity and authority to distribute it. These
ongoing concessions are leading to a new category of postwar displaced who are extremely
frustrated with government.
Another concern is the official view that those displaced people who have begun to farm
have settled permanently. Indeed, this is far from the case. Smallholders will continue to
move as new opportunities or constraints arise. Government officials fail to recognize that
smallholders are influenced by the same economic rationale as larger commercial inter-
ests—they too want access to the better irrigated lands in the Limpopo River Valley. Officials
justify the displacement of smallholders in favor of larger commercial interests and joint-
venture enterprises by claiming that the latter have a greater capacity to exploit the land. If
138. See also Myers (1993a); and Myers (1993c). This point, that the war would resume in the near future,
was voiced by smallholders and other Mozambicans throughout the country. Nina Berg, Norwegian Refugee
Council, reported similar observations in Tete Province (personal communication, February 1994). Harry West,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, after conducting field research in Inhambane and Cabo Delgado provinces,
also commented on the view among smallholders that war would resume (personal communications, February
and May 1994).