Participatory and negotiated territorial development in Mozambique
Mozambique has made significant advances in the last 20 years in formulating legislation that can help avoid major social conflicts over land and promote an equitable flow of new investment. FAO facilitated the consensus-building process that led to the National Land Policy declaration (1995) and resulting Land Law (1997). In its facilitation work, FAO used two complementary approaches: Participatory and Negotiated Territorial Development (PNTD) and a rights-based approach.
Local communities are not always able to use all the land resources which they legally have rights over. Growing environmental concerns, such as climate change, which increase pressures on land and other natural resources, have underlined the need for sustainable economic growth and securing local rights. This has become especially important as investment is surging in large-scale agricultural production systems, which occupy expanding areas of prime farmland. It is not enough for local communities to rely solely on legal protection. Nevertheless, existing rights must be identified and made apparent through registration. Perhaps even more importantly, rights holders must be empowered to articulate and defend their rights, which would allow them to participate as equals in consultations. FAO has provided civic education and legal support for farming communities; specialized training for district officers responsible; and specific programmes for paralegal training. The Organization has also supported extensive media campaigns on these issues and actively promoted the formation of partnerships.
Brokering such partnerships between smallholder producers, local communities, private sector actors and government institutions requires time, energy and tact. As an impartial entity with expertise on the subject, FAO assumed this brokering role in Mozambique making use of PNTD: a people-centered and process-oriented approach whose purpose is to bring diverse stakeholder to a negotiation table to build a wide consensus on the further steps that need to be taken and clearly define specific stakeholder contributions against a timeline.
Source: Tanner, De Wit and Norfolk, 2009