Land Tenure Center Newsletter
Number 79, Spring 2000, p. 9
A mechanism must be found for resolving the "pipeline problem" created by a backlog of requests for land concessions in Mozambique. In Mozambique’s recently approved Land Law, the state retains ownership of all land, yet the rights and participation of local communities in land tenure and administration are stronger. Use rights to land are acquired and held through long-term leaseholds. Communities have permanent rights by fact of occupation, individuals or corporations are able to apply for long-term leases, and good-faith occupiers on unclaimed land are able to request for land use title. Important innovations of the new legislation are that local communities can apply for a land use title, have their boundaries delimited, and enter into contracts with commercial firms. Also, communities must be consulted and participate in the approval process for land concessions.
With government pursuing an integrated development policy to attract investment capital and protect the interests of small, noncommercial farmers, it now faces the challenge of clearing the backlog of several thousand land concession applications that have been lodged with the provincial cadastral offices. These are termed concessions em tramitacão ("in the pipeline"). In an effort to identify which of the submitted applications were still valid, Land Law Regulations stipulated that applicants had to confirm their continued interest in the application by December 1999.
The Mozambique effort runs counter to the dualistic model used in neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe, which is based on the separation of the commercial farming sector from local communities defined by closed boundaries. The current policy in Mozambique is designed to facilitate partnerships between the investment and customary sectors leading to a more mutually beneficial and sustainable production arrangement.
Given the transitional nature of the land policy environment and lack of reliable knowledge about concessions, we suggest using a pilot project approach to develop and refine a methodology that could be extended to concession applications countrywide. One objective would be to implement and test a proactive methodology to resolve the concessions in the pipeline issue. Another objective would be to develop efficient, sustainable, and transparent procedures for processing land concession requests at the provincial levels based on consultation with people and other stakeholders, as stipulated in the new legal framework.
For more information on this work, contact the authors.
Copyright © 2000 by Land Tenure Center and Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin. All rights reserved.
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Slides from the authors' LTC Brownbag Seminar Presentation (April 28, 2000)
More information about Mozambique Project
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