Contents

- General Information
- Geography and Environment
- Population and HIV/AIDS
- Economy
- Agriculure: General Description of the Family Farm Sector
- Communications, Information, Science and Technology
- Chronology of History

Agriculture: General Description of the Family Farm Sector

The majority, namely 80%, of the population in Mozambique is active in agriculture and fisheries. Of these, about 90% work in the family farm sector. The other nationally-defined sectors, which are not part of the study, are the state farm sector and the commercial sector. The family agriculture system is characterized by family labor force and low mechanization grade. Agricultural inputs such as tractors, ploughs, fertilizers, pesticides and others are low, or almost zero. The number of irrigated areas is mainly limited to bigger farms in lowland areas (rice) and mainly directed to vegetable production in small areas. In addition productivity per hectare is low. Hence, the potential for agricultural growth is significant.

The social division of labor in agriculture involves the whole family. There is usually little use of labor from outside the household. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are the basis of agricultural production; they are responsible for land preparation, digging, weeding and harvesting. They help to transport, store and market surplus production. Children help with plot preparation, sowing, weeding, harvesting, carrying and storing of crops. Additionally, women carry the burden of the household tasks such as cooking, child caring, collection of firewood and drinking water.

As a result of the civil war the main infrastructure has been destroyed and is in the process of reconstruction. The rural population, therefore, has "limited" access to markets. Alternative off-farm income sources are, for instance, seasonal labor and, in declining order, other forms of wage labor, fishing trade, and sales of farm products. One would expect that the off-farm income is low, but a FAO focus study on rural non-farm income in developing countries [4] points out the importance of non-rural income, which accounts for up to 25% of the total farm income.

The governmental development planning strategies have changed several times since independence (1975). After independence the government realized the importance of the development of the agricultural sector because the country was still classified as an agrarian nation. During the first years of independence the nation focused on the development of the state farm sector, communal villages (aldeis cmunais) and cooperatives (3rd Frelimo Congress in 1977). The family farm sector was more or less ignored. 18 months later, the Agricultural Ministry pointed out the importance of the family farm sector. In the Ten-year Development Plan of the year 1981, the state farm sector again gained priority and the family farm sector disappeared until the end of the decade. The next Frelimo Congress (1983) focused on the family farm sector. In summary, despite all the changes in the national development plans over the whole civil war period (1975-1992), the majority of national agrarian development investments went to the state and commercial farm sectors, and the family farm sector was neglected. Since the Peace Agreement in 1992, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries focuses again on the development of the family farm sector.

Due to the different climatic and socio-economic conditions there are significant differences in cropping patterns and farming systems. Main staple crops produced in the family agriculture sector are maize, sorghum, rice, millet, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and beans. Grown vegetables (horticultural production) are most frequently tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkin, garlic, piri-piri, pepper, okra, cucumber and onions. Cash crops most frequently grown by households are copra, cashew nut, sesame, sugar beans, sunflower and sugar cane. Most important domestic animals in terms of household consumption are chickens, goats, ducks, pigs or sheep and to a certain extent beef in the southern part of the country. The planting of fruit trees has been a priority in many districts, and in many cases fruit is an important complement to the household diet. Trees of importance are mango, paw-paw, banana, papaya, citrus, crabapple and baobab. Besides their nutritional value, trees are of social and economic value to the population. For instance, they are sources of shade, energy, construction, firewood and charcoal.

Boreholes, wells, rivers and other surface water sources provide access to drinking water. Modern water supply systems are more or less non-existent in rural areas. Throughout the country, supply rehabilitation or construction was and is carried out by several development cooperation organizations. Water sources are quite often between 10 and 20 km away from communities and villages. Irrigated areas are limited and the rainfed production pattern throughout the country is dependent on the regularity of the annual rainy season. A delay of one month, followed for instance by excessive rains, may lead to serious harvest losses. Households with no crop varieties (mono-cropping system) are therefore most severely affected by droughts and/or floods due to the distribution of risk to one single crop. The severe February/March 2000 floods in southern and central Mozambique affected, for instance, about 150,000 hectares of crop production. Livestock losses were estimated at about 30% of the total cattle stock in the three southern provinces (Gaza, Inhambane and Maputo Province). Extensive losses of small animals, such as goats and chickens, were reported. Oxfam reported that 522,000 people were displaced or in areas cut off by flooding.

[5] Hunting, wildlife and fisheries are common ways to supplement the household diet. The most important wildlife species are gazelles, duikers and reedbuck. In several districts illegal hunting has become a problem as poachers often ignore regulations and breach legislation aimed at protecting endangered species. It is known that in recent years many areas had buffalo, kudu, antelope, gazelle, hippopotamus, elephants, wild boars, lions and leopards, but some were partly or completely extinct during the civil war period. The natural re-population of the various species may therefore be seriously compromised. The fisheries sector could be evolved further with a view to marketing fish products and household incomes, for both the freshwater and marine fisheries.

Since Mozambique has a low population density (20 persons per km2 in 1997) it may be assumed that disputes over land or other resources such as water, firewood or pastures, are not frequent. But depending on the district, the hasty exodus of a large part of the population during the civil war left the land unoccupied. At the end of the war, the return of people to the areas of their origin or preference has caused conflicts [6] over land rights. The mediation and the resolution of the disputes are the responsibility of the local administration. The role of traditional authorities is still of particular relevance. Land may not be sold; access is free of charge; once occupied the land can be inherited to the occupant's direct descendants. Each household cultivates an average of 2 hectares. Slash and burn techniques for preparing fields are still the main agricultural technique used. Main production constraints are pests, seed shortages and labor shortage, for both cash and food crops, since most of the cash crops serve as food crops.

References:
Summary by Isolde Prommer

[1] FAOSTAT. 2000. Land Use Table. http://faostat.fao.org/default.htm

[2] The World Bank. 2000. World Development Report 2000/2001. Attacking Poverty. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. The complete report is available on-line: http://worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/

[3] Namibia, Rep. of. 2000. 2nd Development Plan. Windhoek: National Planning Commission. (electronic data files)

[4] FAO. 1998. The State of Food and Agriculture 1998. Rome: FAO.

[5] IRIN-UN Integrated Regional Information Network. News Briefs. http://www.africanews.org/south/ and Oxfam Australia, 12 April 2000. http://www.caa.org.au/world/africa/mozambique/2000_floods/update.html

[6] UN System in Mozambique. 2000. Mozambique: District Development Profiles. http://www.unsystmmoz.org/

[7] The section is a summary of the following selected references and recommends further readings:

Bowen, Merle L. 2000. The State Against Peasantry. Rural Struggles in Colonial and Postcolonial Mozambique. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.

FAO. 2000. FAOSTAT - Statistical Database of the FAO. http://www.faostat.fao.org/

FAO. 1998. The State of Food and Agriculture 1998. Rome: FAO.

FAO. 1997. The State of Food and Agriculture 1997. Rome: FAO.

Hall, Margaret and Tom Young. 1997. Confronting Leviathan. Mozambique Since Independence. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.

Hanlon, Joseph. 1996. Peace Without Profit. How the IMF Blocks Rebuilding in Mozambique. Oxford: Currey.

Hanlon, Joseph. 1984. Mozambique. The Revolution Under Fire. London: Zed Books.

Hillebrand, Ernst. 1990. Sowjetische Theorie-Afrikanische Praxis: Zu den sowjetischen Konzepten einer sozialistischen Agrarpolitik in Afrika. Hamburg: Institut für Afrikakunde.

Isaacman, Allen. 1996. Cotton is the Mother of Poverty. Peasants, Work, and Rural Struggle in Colonial Mozambique, 1938-1961. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Isaacman, Allen and Barbara Isaacman. 1983. Mozambique: From Colonialism to Revolution, 1900-1982. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Instituto Nacional de Estatística. 1998. Inquérito Nacional Aos Agregados Familiares Sobre Condições de Vida, 1996-1997. Relatória Final. Maputo, Mozambique: INE.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAP). 1997. Estatísticas Agrárias 1996. Maputo, Mozambique: MAP.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAP). 1996. Trabalho de Inquérito Agrícola ao Sector Familiar 1966. Maputo, Mozambique: MAP, mimeo.

Republic of Mozambique. 1998. Vulnerability Assessment for Mozambique 1997/98. An Initial Analysis of Current Vulnerability to Food and Nutritional Insecurity. Maputo: MAP, MPF, MoH, FEWS and WFP.

Republic of Mozambique. 1998. Mozambique: Policy Framework Paper for 1997-99. Maputo: MPF, Poverty Alleviation Unit.

Republic of Mozambique. 1996. Mozambique: Rural Poverty Profile. Maputo: MPF, Poverty Alleviation Unit.

Rose, Donald, Paul Strasberg, José Jaime Jeje, and David Tschirley. 1999. Household Food Consumption in Mozambique: A Case Study in Three Northern Districts. Research Report No. 33. Maputo, Mozambique: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Directorate of Economics.

UN System in Mozambique. 2000. Mozambique: District Development Profiles. http://www.unsystemmoz.org/ UN System in Mozambique. 2000.

UNICEF Mozambique Floods Update: 10 Feb - 20 Aug 2000. http://www.unsystemmoz.org/news/flod/aug/wfp23aug2000_2.asp

West, Harry G. and Gregory W. Myers. 1996. A Piece of Land in a Land of Peace? State farm divestiture in Mozambique. The Journal of Modern African Studies 34(1):27-51.

Wuyts, Marc. 1989. Money, Planning and Rural Transformation in Mozambique. Journal of Development Studies 22:180-207.

- General Information
- Geography and Environment
- Population and HIV/AIDS
- Economy
- Agriculure: General Description of the Family Farm Sector
- Communications, Information, and Science and Technology
- Chronology of History