Social Justice in Forestry – as a project of FGLG with funding from the EC – supported the Mozambique Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG-Mozambique) from January 2009 to December 2013, building on a first phase of EC support from April 2005 to December 2008 and an even earlier phase of work funded by DFID that started in 2003-2004.

This study examines the agricultural policies and strategies that have influenced agricultural development in Mozambique, the support structures that have been put in place, and the realities and challenges of their implementation. It was found that key stakeholders understand the concept of sustainable agriculture, that the most important contributing components are covered in the current policy framework, and that farmers are keen to adopt and adapt to more sustainable and profitable farming practices.

Understanding how land use and its changes affect forest cover and carbon stocks is fundamental to developing sound REDD+ delivery options. A study in Manica Province, a REDD+ pilot area for Mozambique, suggests biomass and forest carbon fell substantially between 2007 and 2010. The study combined radar remote sensing information (to measure changes in biomass and carbon stocks) with field investigations (to establish land use and land cover changes, and their causes). Small-scale agriculture is responsible for nearly half of the loss.

Agriculture is an important engine for economic growth in Africa, but effective agricultural strategies to support rural development and poverty alleviation are scarce. State investment in the small-scale farming sector is minimal and the entrepreneurial family farm sector remains underrepresented. Meanwhile, large-scale land investments are advocated as means to bring capital to rural areas and stimulate development.

For two reasons the miombo woodlands of eastern and southern Africa provide an important opportunity for developing pro-poor payments for avoided deforestation and degradation. Firstly, there is strong scientific evidence that the loss of woodlands is associated with a decline in livelihoods. Secondly, there are two decades of successful community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in the miombo region.

The FAO-EU FLEGT Programme has committed to a significant contribution to global Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) achievements in 2017 under the Phase III programme. This year’s objectives were to increasingly operationalize the projects that were endorsed under the first two calls for proposals in the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) countries and ensure productive results from these projects that will have a positive effect on the VPA processes.

Mozambique is experiencing increased privatesector investment, to assist in meeting the country’s its development objectives. The government has intensified efforts to attract foreign direct investment, to improve Mozambique’s socioeconomic status and alleviate poverty. However, adequate legal frameworks are necessary to align investments with national priorities and to ensure compliance with environmental and social safeguards.

The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, MLIKE (Mekong Land Information and Knowledge Exchange),  and the Land Portal co-facilitated an online dialogue on “Responsible Large Scale Agricultural Investments in the Mekong Region” on 09-27 October 2017. The full dialogue can be read here. This report delineates the key messages emerging from the dialogue.

 This brief presents an analysis of the actual mechanics of these regulations, and how they relate to each other. In doing so, authoher reaches exactly the opposite conclusion of the government of India and the financial media. The brief find that India’s current system of financial and environmental regulation is jeopardizing India’s financial system for entirely different reasons to those often argued. And the planned “reforms” of this system will exacerbate these growing threats.

Large-scale agricultural land investments in Africa are often considered solely from the land perspective. Yet land, water and other natural resources are closely interlinked in agricultural production and in sustaining rural livelihoods. Such investments involving irrigation will potentially have implications for water availability and utilization by other users, making it imperative to regard water as an economic rather than a free good.