Balancing Land Access for Investors with Protection of Local Land Rights: A Reform Model from Mozambique
Rose, Ian M.
Mozambique, similar to several other African countries, closely regulates private land rights. The current legal framework prohibits outright private ownership of land as well as restricts the transferability of those lesser land rights that are permitted. Secure, renewable and transferable long-term leasehold rights may serve as a sufficient proxy for ownership. However, restrictions on transferability in Mozambique arguably inhibit investment and development because the transaction is subject to a government approval process which contains a high degree of discretion or subjectivity. In the context of this potentially inhibitory framework, the Mozambican private sector, international investors, and the donor community, have together supported a reform agenda which seeks to introduce more flexibility into land rights transfers. A proposed new regulation would promote land leasing both between private parties as well as between communities and private parties. The proposed reform seeks to facilitate investment but at the same time protect land rights of local communities and smallholders. The regulation would benefit from providing more reliable mechanisms to ensure genuine consent by local communities of such leasing contracts and provide equitable benefit-sharing. On the other hand, with regard to transactions between private parties, the regulation should reduce entry points for discretionary government approvals.
Event: Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015
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