Gregory Myers, (1995):
Land Tenure Development in Mozambique, Implications for Econimic Development

II. Customary Land Tenure and Social Structure

A. Historical Overview

Customary land tenure practices vary greatly across Mozambique. As elsewhere in Africa, Mozambique has numerous customary land tenure regimes, which taken together constitute its customary land tenure sector. Land tenure patterns are rooted in specific geographical contexts and differing cultural histories. The political and economic interventions of Portuguese colonialism and the post-independence state had distinct impacts depending on variants within these different histories and cultures, which gave rise to new levels of heterogeneity. In the present day, "traditional" land tenure systems are of substantial importance everywhere in Mozambique, but in all cases these systems have evolved over time according to the opportunities and constraints brought to bear upon societies at the local level. This process has continued through the present in response to many events including the recent civil conflict, articulation of the peace accord and end of hostilities, democratic elections and economic reforms (e.g. structural adjustment and other forms of economic liberalization).

Reference is often made in the literature on Mozambique to the division - roughly at the Zambezi River - between societies organized according to patrilinear kinship principles (south of the Zambezi) and those organized according to matrilinear principles (to the north). In terms of land tenure, matrilinear structure is more often associated with agrarian societies living in small-scale dispersed settlements, while patrilinear structure is more often associated with the raising of livestock and the centralized political domains necessary for the social management of expansive grazing lands. These over-simplified characterizations have not always held true in Mozambique, where cattle raising has been of relatively little importance among many of the patrilinear societies of the central part of the country, for example the Ndau, Tsonga and Sena of Sofala and Manica provinces; or where the matrilinear Makua societies of Nampula have exercised political power over areas larger than individual settlements and sometimes stretched from the coast to the interior. These anomalies can only be explained in terms of historical circumstances - with particular focus upon the consolidating effects of the Nguni empire in the region south of the Zambezi in the nineteenth century, and the dynamics fostered by the trade in slaves and ivory north of the Zambezi, beginning in the sixteenth century and lasting nearly until the end of the nineteenth.[FN 15]

With these subtleties in mind however, generalizations can be made about customary land tenure in Mozambique. Rights over land are asserted either by clearing land and placing it under cultivation for the first time, or by demonstrating that the individual (or family) who did so passed on rights to the actual claimant or claimants, whether directly or through a line of descent - that is to say by claiming inheritance rights. Land claims are thus declared, contested and confirmed in large measure through the recounting of history, which becomes subject to scrutiny and reinterpretation according to the interests and needs of present day claimants.

In many instances, claims are asserted through a demonstrable link to a real founder if the land was cleared within the span of social memory. In other cases, claims have become more generalized on the part of a family or lineage who base their claim upon a founding "myth." Association of a family with a particular region is generally accompanied by expression of claims through a language of ancestral spirits as well; in the south, where shifting agriculture is less common than in the north, ancestral spirits are often said to occupy the bodies of wild animals to patrol the lands they once cultivated. These same spirits are believed to be responsible for bringing prosperity - including rain - to the land. In some cases, local ruling lineages may be recognized as conquerors and distinguished vis-a-vis autochthonous lineages whose ancestors still exercise dominion in the spiritual realm.

In terms of customary inheritance, patterns in Mozambique are complex and diverse. In the matrilinear societies of the north, the "founder" of a settlement - or the descendant who has inherited the founder's name and station - typically would use the land to attract the sons of his sisters (who have married out) back into the domain of the settlement (or community). Within the patrilinear structure, land would be passed to the holder's sons. The basic difference in practical terms is that within the matrilinear system, social relations are more flexible, and wealth is shared out more comprehensively by an uncle who attempts to attract family members and their labor power; in the south, where accumulated wealth in the form of livestock is more substantial, the head of the family may limit social claims on that wealth, including land rights, by sharing out only to sons.

Whether matrilinear or patrilinear social structure, women's or men's land access, it is deceptive to view land claims as singular or exclusive within the logic of customary institutions in Mozambique. As stated above, a man may claim the land while a particular wife claims the right to cultivate it. Tremendous variety exists in the way the product of a wife's labor is divided out, depending upon the type of crop, the local market for it, and the nature of other economic activities in the region. Within customary law, one individual may have rights to cultivate a plot of land, another to harvest the fruit trees on it, another to graze animals on it, and still others to collect firewood. These rights may be permanent, temporary, or seasonal. Each of these claims may be embedded in the complexities of local history (frequently within the history of a particular family), local political structure and economic relations. In brief, under customary tenure land claims are based upon clearing land and passing on rights through inheritance. In addition, individuals acquire rights, sometimes temporarily, by leasing, purchasing or borrowing them. Purchased rights may be temporary or permanent, and they may be paid in cash, labor, or another negotiable commodity.