Mozambique

In spite of the efforts which include massive donor support for the national budget through General Budget Support, inequality is increasing. After a sharp decline of 15 % in families living under the poverty line between 1996 and 2002, poverty has since remained high and stable at national level with 52% of the households living under the poverty line. In the same period the rich have become richer, sit close to the political power and are in position to link up with foreign capital and gain access to resources without too many bureaucratic checks and balances. This is in contrast to 70 % of the population who live in the rural areas and lack access to cash, credit, agricultural input and markets, as well as adequate social services.

In spite of elections being held regularly, decision-making processes in political and economic affairs do not involve the majority of the population and remain elitist. Capacity building in public sector has not kept up with reforms such as for example the decentralization of economic and political power to the provinces and districts. While the constitution and the laws grant people their democratic rights, there are serious flaws in implementation as a consequence of lack of political will, weak operational and management capacity. In the lack of strong systems corruption has become entrenched in public institutions at all levels.

The land law underlines that men and women have equal rights to access and use of land. It focuses on productive and sustainable land use, recognizes the traditional land tenure systems and allows private investments subject to consultation processes that include the participation of the local communities. However, there is a gap between the land law and its implementation. Most people are illiterate and are easy prey for those that promote or invest in tourism or exploit natural resources like land, water, minerals and forest. Consultations for land concessions are often held with community leaders only. In many cases, prior informal meetings have been held to ensure favourable outcome for investors. The agreed minutes are normally incomplete and not distributed to the affected populations. Information on environmental impact is rarely made available, despite this being a legal requirement. Women are strongly underrepresented or fully excluded from participating in the consultation and decision making processes despite it being women who feel the main negative impacts of the decisions regarding the use and destination of resources taken without their knowledge.  

In the beginning, the choices of NPA's program in Mozambique were largely determined by the situation of war and violent conflicts. Starting in 1984, NPA provided humanitarian support to Mozambican refugees in Zimbabwe and the population in the drought-stricken areas in the Tete province of Mozambique, assisted in resettlement, rehabilitation and development efforts such as skills training, construction of schools, district development and mine clearance.  Today, NPA supports peasants who organize to defend their interests, who demand access to land, and resources for their livelihood and who build an effective local and national organizational voice against injustices. With support from NPA, the national peasant union UNAC in 2010 mapped and produced “Lord of the land”, a report on land grabbing. It tells the story of the people who are affected by land grabbing and gives an indication of type of support that the communities need from their organizations in order to succeed in their struggle for land, livelihood and justice