Can you buy land in mozambique

All non-removable improvements made on the land are forfeited to the State. All Rights Reserved. Ribeiro manages the company. For a foreign investor, the process of investing is not straightforward, he said. Written by Dana Sanchez Jan 30, Contribute Now. Stay up to date with all the latest news that affects you in politics, finance and more. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This system is currently maintained by the government, but with difficulty, particularly with reference to technical assistance and basic IT infrastructure. However, it does provide a cornerstone for building an improved land governance system in the country. The activity is also supporting private sector public debate around more controversial issues of land as an economic asset, transferability of DUATs, and sub-leasing.

The African Development Bank AfDB also had a program to assist the governmnt in the development of the judicial and administrative systems relating to land rights, in part to assist the government in resolving land-related disputes and speed up the processing of applications for land use rights.

During project implementation, in the rural areas a majority of DUATs were either issued to women, or women acquired the right together with men. The Swiss Development Cooperation has recently approved its new strategy for the period with continued support reserved to the land sector. Mozambique has identified river basins and shares nine major river basins with other countries. The basins mostly carry water from the central African highland plateau to the Indian Ocean. The rivers have a highly seasonal, torrential flow regime with high waters during three to four months and low flows for the remainder of the year.

Mozambique has abundant renewable groundwater sources at around 17 cubic kilometers per year. Annual internal renewable surface water resources are estimated at External renewable water resources are around cubic kilometers per year, primarily from the Zambezi River, which enters Mozambique from the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The country receives an average annual rainfall of 1, millimeters, which varies widely across the country and from north to south.

The north and central regions receive up to 2, millimeters of rainfall per year, the coast receives —1, millimeters, while the southern inland and border areas receive as little as — millimeters per year FAO ; NEPAD The main source of water in the country is surface water, although people rely on groundwater for drinking water in urban centers and many rural areas.

Agriculture accounts for 87 percent of water use, while 11 percent of water withdrawals are for domestic uses and two percent for industry. The country has an estimated irrigation potential of 3. The country has significant potential for irrigation—irrigation potential was estimated to be around 3. Most of the irrigation potential is in the northern and central regions 60 percent of the potential is in Zambezi Province. Overall access to a safe water supply is low at 49 percent, with a large disparity between urban coverage 80 percent and rural coverage 35 percent UNICEF Most rural water is provided through piped village systems and boreholes with hand pumps.

At any given time, up to 35 percent of the rural systems are not functioning because of poor management, and donor-financed water and sanitation sector interventions often fall quickly into disrepair. An estimated 36 percent of the population obtains water from unprotected wells, and cholera, dysentery and other waterborne diseases are chronic problems AllAfrica ; USAID ; Water-Technology A severe drought affecting most of southern Africa over the last three years has led to a water crisis in the capital city of Maputo and low rainfall has left a dam that supplies the city with most of its water to just 19 percent of capacity.

In rural areas, the lack of water has wiped out crops and killed livestock. As a result, the food security and nutritional situation in the country went from 1. Similarly, the National Water Law provides that all water is a state-owned public good. The Water Law also defined the general principles for water resource management. The state is responsible for managing water resources for the benefit of the entire population.

Priority for water-use is given to human consumption, sanitation and environmental needs. Water management is based on a river basin approach: water in the same basin should be managed to benefit all states involved, and research, exchange of information and project development should be prepared and conducted jointly FAO ; FAOLex ; ADCM The National Water Policy was adopted to guarantee a sustainable water supply and proper sanitation.

The policy reformed and clarified the administrative, regulatory and development roles within the water supply and sanitation sector.

In combination with the Water Tariff Policy, the National Water Policy established a commercially-oriented regime designed to support cost recovery and long-term sustainability of the water supply system. The policy is primarily focused on urban areas but does encourage private-sector participation in water supply and distribution, including existing irrigation and hydroelectric schemes FAO ; USAID In the same year, the government approved the National Strategy and Action Plan for the Water Sector to guide the implementation of the Water Policy and set priorities for water resource management, water supply and sanitation, investment, and private sector participation in the water sector ADCM The policy states that:.

Although private water providers PWPs were previously unregulated and unlicensed, they started offering water services in the early s and have been growing rapidly. The licensing process is assigned to local authorities, giving them the primary role in planning and overseeing investment in water supply infrastructure in their areas of jurisdiction. Licensed private suppliers are allocated an exclusive operation area for a period of 5 years, thus reducing potential conflicts between private providers, and facilitating the acquisition of financing to invest in the improvement of their systems USAID DNAAS is responsible for water supply, sanitation and waste water treatment in rural areas.

Separately, DNGRH is in charge of the development, conservation, and sustainable use of water resources from watersheds for various uses such as household consumption and agriculture. At the regional level, Mozambique is a party to the Southern African Development Community SADC Protocol on shared water courses and has signed several agreements related to the management of the different water courses that the country shares with its neighbors DNGRH Several basin commissions were created at which Mozambique is represented.

Reforms have improved water-supply regulation, dependability and quality, as well as the financial viability of many urban service providers. However, the achievements have largely depended on outside donor funding, and reforms have not reached rural areas.

An evaluation by the AfDB identifies continuing issues as including: 1 the ability of the sector to mobilize funding through growth of implementation capacity; 2 adoption of monitoring and evaluation systems; 3 reduction of dependence on outside funding sources by increasing cost-recovery strategies; and 4 balancing urban and rural sub-sector budget allocations and expenditures AfDB With the assistance of donors, the government created a water and sanitation sector working group to help coordinate government implementation of water and sanitation projects and donor initiatives.

A technical subgroup, the Water and Sanitation Group, includes representatives from major sector donors, international NGOs and private-sector firms. SINAS is an information management system designed to cover rural and urban water and sanitation as well as water resources management and water resources development. The mission of SINAS is to create a robust institutional network of information on the water sector that seeks to identify, analyze, disseminate, use and store data and information for management, planning, policy formulation and decision-making Macario and Buhl-Nielsen The project, which was implemented over four years beginning in , was designed to improve access, quality, availability and sustainability of water supply and sanitation services in two provincial towns, Cuamba and Lichinga.

The project included support for institutional development, rehabilitation and extension of the water supply scheme AfDB The objective of the project is to increase agricultural production and raise farm productivity with new or improved irrigation schemes in the provinces of Sofala, Manica and Zambezia in Mozambique World Bank d.

The RWSA installed water points to increase access to improved water sources in rural communities. In addition, RWSA mobilized water committees to maintain the water point infrastructure as well as provide community-based training in improved sanitation and hygiene practices MCC Approximately 29, yard-taps were scheduled to be installed, each of which would serve three households.

As of the end of , project staff believed that the objective of increasing yard-taps connections for Maputo would be achieved because a private operator was in place and the connections demonstrated to be sustainable.

However, in the other four cities the private sector had expressed little interest and the project could require restructuring World Bank b; World Bank c. Most of the forest is miombo woodlands, a dry tropical forest dominated by open broad leaf trees with grassy understory.

Most of the tall and medium forests are located in the northern and central regions of the country. Other closed-canopy forests can be found along rivers and in mountainous areas along the western border with Zimbabwe and Malawi. The drier southern part of the country is primarily savanna grassland and thorn scrub vegetation with less than 20 percent tree cover. Mangrove forests cover an estimated , hectares along the coast.

The mangroves provide critical habitat for fish and crustaceans and have been subject to significant degradation around Beira, Maputo and the Zambezi Delta. Both the formal and informal sectors are engaged in production of timber, non-timber forest products and forest services. As of , the country had granted timber concessions covering about 1.

Forests also make a significant contribution to the local economy and livelihoods. Rural households sell fuelwood, charcoal, forest foods, honey and medicinal plants. Fire is traditionally used to manage forestland and vegetation and to clear land for agriculture. An estimated 90 percent of fires are intentionally set by humans. The practice is controversial: fire is a traditional method of adding nutrients to the soil, revitalizing forest species and preparing land for cultivation.

However, fire is often uncontrolled and can cause significant forest degradation while also opening the forest to illegal logging and charcoal production. In the government issued a decree with tighter requirements for timber exploration and a national audit was ordered. In it rejected a proposal for a complete moratorium, but in the issuing of licenses for logging was suspended. Log exports were also suspended. A special closed season for particularly endangered species, such as the Swartzia madagascariensis locally know as pau-ferro was enacted.

The Forestry and Wildlife Law and the Forest and Wildlife Regulation set out the principles and basic rules governing the protection, conservation, and sustainable use of forest and wildlife resources. The following principles guide the interpretation and implementation of the Forestry Law:. With respect to local communities, the law contains exactly the same definition as the Land Law. By extension, this means that the communities and rights referred to in the forestry context are spatially and institutionally the same as those that are delimited under the Land Law Regulations and Technical Annex.

This has important implications for determining which communities must be consulted by forest and wildlife investors as well as by agricultural investors; and which communities share in the distribution of a percentage of public revenues generated by these investments. The Forestry Law recognizes three forest types: 1 conservation forests, which are within protection zones and subject to special management regimes; 2 productive forests, which have plant formations with high forestry potential and are located outside protection zones; and 3 multiple-use forests, which have plant formations with low forestry and are located outside protection zones GOM Forestry Law Protection zones are delimited areas maintained for the preservation of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems.

Conservation areas, including those under community management, make up National parks, national reserves and zones of historical and cultural use and value are within protection zones. National parks are total protection zones, and all forest and agricultural exploitation, mining, hunting and any other use that modifies the landscape or may disturb the flora and fauna is prohibited.

National reserves have all the protection of national parks, except that some forest resources may be exploited, subject to license requirements and a management plan, and provided the use is not detrimental to the purpose of the reserve. Forestland and resources within zones of historical and cultural use and value may be used in accordance with the customary practices of the local communities GOM Forestry Law The Forestry Law promotes the development of plantations for conservation and for commercial, industrial and fuel-producing purposes.

The Forestry Law requires parties causing forest degradation or deforestation to rehabilitate the area in accordance with applicable regulations GOM Forestry Law The Forestry Law authorizes the government to impose penalties—including fines, imprisonment, and compulsory restoration of damaged forestland—for violations of the law and supporting regulations.

Forest burning is punishable by imprisonment. Other legislative reforms with impacts on the forestry sector include the announced review of the environmental law. Indications are that the general principles remain much the same, with improvement made to the licensing regimes and incorporating international standards on sustainable use and issues such as carbon sequestration.

Forestland and forest resources are the property of the state. Individuals and groups can obtain rights to use and benefit from the forest through occupancy or specific authorization. All rights to use and benefit from the forest require an exploitation license, except where exploitation is for personal consumption.

There is no direct and consequent connection between the rights to land and the rights to forestry resources. Local communities have the right to use forest resources to meet subsistence needs without payment of any fee and can designate forest areas of cultural significance GOM Forestry Law Two types of licenses are available: simple licenses and forestry concession contracts. Simple licenses are available to national operators and local communities and allow for exploitation in productive and multiple-use forests for commercial, industrial or fuel-producing purposes.

The terms of simple licenses are subject to species, quantity and time limits set by the forest department and must be consistent with the forest management plan. Applicants for simple licenses must present proof of technical capacity, a hand-drawn map of the proposed area, an estimate of timber resources and proposed extraction volume, and a record of consultation with local communities in the area.

More recently, a ban has been implemented with regard to these licenses. Forestry concession contracts are available to individuals, corporate entities and local communities for exploitation of productive and multiple-use forests.

Applications require preparation of a forest resources inventory, a topographical map and evidence of the technical and industrial capacity to process timber within the concession area. Applicants must also consult with local communities and prepare a management plan.

Concession contracts are limited to a year period, with 5-year renewals. Studies suggest that the requirements for concessions are not rigorously applied by forestry officials.

It is estimated that there are around forest concession operators in the country GOM Forestry Law ; Nhancale et al. One result of this two-tier licensing system is that most commercial operators work outside the formal law to avoid the concession requirements and establish relationships with poor rural residents to illegally extract unprocessed timber directly for export. Weak governance—characterized by low institutional capacity and a lack of transparency, limited participation of stakeholders in decision making, and inadequate benefit sharing with local communities- has fueled deforestation and forest degradation in Mozambique Aquino et al.

A recent MITADER assessment of forest operators revealed a low level of compliance with key forest management environmental and social standards and found that only 39 percent of forest concessionaires in Mozambique demonstrated minimum compliance Aquino et al. The Forestry Law provides that local communities will receive a percentage of any amounts received by the state from the exploitation of forests and wildlife.

Current regulations set the rates at 20 percent of forestry tax revenue the government derives from concessions and 50 percent of the value of fines paid for forest law violations. Despite its potential to contribute significantly to rural incomes, in practice communities report that they do not receive the legislated benefits, or that they end up losing benefits they previously enjoyed, because companies reduce their access to forest resources to offset the required 20 percent tax GOM Forestry Law ; FAOLex ; Del Gatto ; Norfolk ; CTC The purpose of the councils is to protect, conserve and promote the sustainable use of forest and wildlife resources.

The councils are charged with responsibility for ensuring that local communities benefit from the exploitation of forest resources. The law specifically permits the state to delegate forest-management responsibilities to local communities, associations or the private sector GOM Forestry Law ; Del Gatto The strategy envisions local communities forming Community Management Committees CGC , which are intended to represent community interests regarding forest resources and enter consultations and negotiations with the forestry department and investors on behalf of the local community.

CGCs have been created in some areas, and local small and medium forest enterprises developed. However, the strategy has not included capacity-building for local forestry officials or local communities and as a result has remained largely unimplemented. Enforcement of requirements for community consultation and participation in forest management is generally poor. Moreover, the government has not supported legislative efforts to provide communities with commercial rights to forest resources Nhancale et al.

PARPA II — also recognized the role that micro, small and medium enterprises can play in community development and economic growth. The Plan identified the need for institutions supporting SMEs; analysts also noted the importance of simplifying the regulatory scheme governing forest concessions and eliminating barriers to the competitiveness of SMEs to operate in the global forest-products market such as lack of technical expertise, equipment and collateral to encourage informal operators to move into the formal sector Nhancale et al.

In , the GOM created a National Sustainable Development Fund to finance natural resource management and environmental protection initiatives and passed a law banning the export of logs, which had been one of the leading causes of deforestation.

Mozambique has made sustainable management of natural resources a key component of its Five Year Development Plan African Economic Outlook The package of measures includes policy, operational and investment interventions.

Spicy stews, delectable seafood dishes and a wide variety of fruits are the order of the day. The Indian Ocean provides a myriad of opportunities for diving, snorkelling, kayaking, fishing or simply holidaying in the shade of towering palm trees.

The country is also home to a range of universities and technicons across various regions. There are a number of doctors, clinics and private healthcare facilities spread across the country near all major cities, specifically along the coastal regions.

Enjoy delightful street-side shopping at arts and crafts markets or venture into a shopping centre for all your daily needs. More remote towns offer a more relaxed atmosphere with smaller convenience stores, ensuring everything you need is always close by. There are a number of airports in Mozambique, affording quick and convenient travel including Maputo International Airport in the southernmost region. Email: maputo pamgolding.

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