AIM | 23 July 2015

Pro-Savana will not xxpropriate land, government says

Maputo — The Mozambican government on Thursday categorically denied that any Mozambicans would lose land because of the Pro-Savana agricultural development programme under way in the north of the country.

Pro-Savana is a triangular cooperation programme between Mozambique, Brazil and Japan. According to Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco its purpose is “human development through building up the capacity of peasant farmers to increase their yield per hectare, in order to attain sustainable food and nutritional security, diversify production and increase family income”.

But in a question and answer session in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, deputies of the former rebel movement Renamo insisted that Pro-Savana is a land grab, and that farmers are losing their land.

“Where are the peasants going to live?”, asked Benjamin Cortes, who claimed that farmers are being deprived of their land in Nampula province. But neither he, nor any of the other Renamo speakers, gave any details of the alleged land grab.

The Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, said the government is investing in land management, and defending the rights of peasants. In particular, it was providing land titles (known as DUATs) to rural communities.

Correia added that the government has produced a new, computerized land register, to ensure that Mozambican citizens' land rights are respected.