This paper addresses the wide disparity between theory and practice in connection with large-scale land acquisitions in Mozambique. Mozambique’s progressive legislative framework aims to ensure poor rural communities’ rights to land and natural resources by promoting principles of inclusion and equity in the access to, use, and management of land and natural resources. However, communities are under increasing strain from rising demand for land from national elites and foreign investors, gaps in implementation of the legal framework, and the government’s support for claims by investors over those by communities. The author concludes that a multifaceted approach, including the purveyance of legal assistance to communities through paralegals and other measures to increase community readiness, must be adopted to ensure that communities can effectively exercise their legal rights to land and consultation.
Keywords: Participatory management, benefit-sharing, land governance, land grabbing.