Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine how farmland investments are changing access to natural resources, climate resilience strategies and livelihoods in Mozambique. It draws on qualitative fieldwork conducted in the country in 2015 and adopts the conceptual approach of environmental justice.

Paper long abstract:

The "Green Revolution" narrative has been portraying Africa as a "sleeping giant" with vast underused arable land. Triggered by climate change, the 2007-2008 food price crisis and economic recession, large-scale acquisitions rose sharply over the last decade. Mozambique is amongst the top targets. Whereas legislation recognises land rights to rural communities, their effective access to productive areas has been a matter of concern for non-governmental organisations as well as academics.

This paper explores how agribusiness deals are influencing access to land and natural resources in Northern Mozambique. Drawing on concepts from environmental justice, I analyse how the misrecognition of local land uses influences the outcomes of participation processes and, ultimately, land distribution. This novel framework contributes to agrarian studies by further developing a local-based understanding of the dynamics behind land deals.

Through semi-structured interviews, I observe that both peasants and companies question the justice of each other's land use strategies. Agribusiness managers dismiss local practices as a waste of land. Local populations formally accept land deals expecting jobs and material benefits. But the terms of this acceptance are not set in stone. They also depend on whether the company occupies the land in a way deemed appropriate and just.

In the end, this dynamic struggle for recognition will influence the landscape, local practices and livelihoods. It may even constrain local resilience strategies - peasants had distributed the location of their plots in order to maximise access to the river, whilst minimising the risk of losing crops to floods.