At The Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area

At the Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area Justiรงa Ambiental Friends Of the Earth Mozambique

1. Introduction

Driven by a shocking complaint made in Maputo during a seminar on corporate responsibility, in 2012 Justiça Ambiental (JA) decides to start monitoring the social impacts of Wanbao Africa Agriculture Development Limited’s project in the Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area. It does so through various field visits, interviews, as well as through a key liaison with local civil society.

“Last week the Province of Gaza, specifically the District of Xai-Xai, began harvesting chinese rice. Experts from both countries planted this high quality rice last year on an experimental basis.

According to Chinese media, Chinese specialists achieved good results in the test cultures, averaging a production of 10 tonnes per hectare using high-quality varieties�

Gaza inicia colheita de arroz de origem chinesa, (Gaza starts to harvest rice from china), in Jornal O PaĂ­s, April 15th 2009

1.1 About Farming and Mozambique

“Most of Mozambique’s population lives in rural areas.

This trend is no different from other African countries.

The urban population growth has been very slow, the 1997 census data indicated that 28.6% of the population lived in urban areas, that number raised to 30.1% in 2007 and, according to the projections, the urban population of Mozambique in 2014 was estimated at approximately 32%.”

Estatísticas de Indicadores Sociais 2012-2013 Instituto Nacional de Estatística (2012-2013 Statistics from Social Indicators, National Institute of Statistics)

Employing more than 80% of the rural population and contributing with 25% of the country’s GDP, farming is an important economic activity for Mozambique, a country with 5.6 million hectares of agricultural land, occupied predominantly by more than 3, 7 million small to medium-sized properties.

From the statistical data that follows, the more than two-thirds of rural population on the country stands out, along with the staggering 98.7% of agricultural land occupied by these small to medium-sized farms - the machambas.

Relevant Statistical Data Population Distribution and Density Province

Total

Men

Women

Pop/km2

Country Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo

Population Distribution Percentage per Area of Residence 31.6% Urban Population 68.4% Rural Population

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística 2010, Projecções Anuais da População Total, Urbana e Rural 2007-2040 2013, Censo Agro-Pecuário

Cultivated area, per province, per type of farm Small Cultivated area (ha) Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo Distribuition per Province (%) Total Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo

Medium

Large

Total

Number of farms in the country per Province and per type of farm Small

Medium

Large

Total

Number of Farms Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo Distribuition per Province (%) Total Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo

Number of Small and Medium-sized farms per province and per Gender of the Head of the Household Number of farms headed by: Women Men

Total

Number of Farms Niassa Cabo Delgado Nampula Zambézia Tete Manica Sofala Inhambane Gaza Maputo City of Maputo

Number of Small and Medium-sized farms per level of schooling and per Gender of the Head of the Household Number of farms headed by: Women Men Schooling Level Can not read nor write Literate Primary School - Level 1 Primary School - Level 2 Secundary School - Level 1 Secundary School - Level 2 Technical Education - Elementary Level Technical Education - Basic Level Technical Education - Intermediate Level Trained Primary School Teacher Higher Education

Total

1.2 About the Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area

“In dry conditions, Limpopo’s alluvial plain, in Mozambique, has a marginal agricultural productivity. The average rainfall (622 mm per year) is low, which is aggravated by high temperatures and high evapotranspiration rates (1402 mm per year). Moreover, precipitation is subject to significant fluctuations, calculations indicate that good yields only happen approximately in 22% of the years (BTFPL 1956, p. 21).

The high risk for agriculture is accentuated by the large flow oscillations of the Limpopo and its main tributary, Rio dos Elefantes (Olifants upstream in South Africa).

The combined monthly flow of the two rivers varies on average between 56.5 mm3 in September, and 1585 mm3 in February. And these great seasonal variations (x30) are further amplified by year-to-year disparity.”

Oportunidades e Condicionalismos da Agricultura no Regadio do Chókwè (Chókwè’s Irrigated Area agricultural opportunities and constraints) by Ana Sofia Ganho and Phil Woodhouse in IESE Desafios para 2014 – Parte II: Economia

The Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area is a region of arable land, favourable to the practice of agriculture, long characterized by a double contest: Cooperative Production System Vs. Corporate/State Production System; and Family Production System Vs. Commercial Production System.

After Mozambique’s independence, some of the drainage zones along the sandy slopes of the irrigated area were handed over to agricultural cooperatives, while corporate/state farming and cattle breeding retained most of the alluvial zone.

By the year 2000 these systems began to suffer some changes. The areas once ran by cooperatives were divided into small family farms and organized into associations which, in turn, were grouped into Casas Agrárias (agrarian houses). At the same time, the areas explored by former state companies began to be exploited by associations of emerging commercial farmers and agro-industrial companies.

After trying several management models and performing various structural changes, in 2010 the government created the Regadio do Baixo Limpopo, Empresa Pública (Lower Limpopo Irrigation Area, Public Company) or RBL, and handed the management of the Irrigation area to the company.

Representing about 80% of the district’s farmland, the irrigation area is key to food security in the region.

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1.3 About Wanbao

“The farm was established in 2007 in Xai-Xai, capital of Gaza province, thanks to an agreement between the Hubei Province and Gaza provincial Governments. This agreement gave the Hubei Lianfeng Mozambique Company, Ltd., a Chinese state-owned company, an area of 300 hectares (ha) to produce rice in the Xai-Xai irrigation scheme.

In 2011, management of the farm was turned over to Wanbao Africa Agriculture Development Limited, a private Chinese company. Wanbao received a concession of 20,000 ha for a period of 50 years, and plans to invest US$289 million in three to five years, beginning in 2012.”

Chinese Agricultural Investment in Mozambique by Sergio Chichava in The SAIS China - Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University - Policy Brief No.02 / 2014

In April 2007 the provinces of Hubei, in China, and Gaza in Mozambique, signed a memorandum of understanding for the generation and transfer of agricultural production technologies (including items like storage and processing as added value aspects). In light of the conditions stipulated by the agreement (and the test field results from the Chinese State company that preceded it) Wanbao decides to come to Gaza.

According to the project’s Final Environmental Impact Study Report (EIR), Wanbao is a private limited company based in Xai-Xai, owned by three partners of Chinese nationality [Haoping Luo (2.5%), Yong Cai (2.5 %) and Shungong Chai (95%)] and with an overall investment value (used in infrastructure and the acquisition of machinery) of 250 million US dollars. Acquired in phases, its area for the production of cereals totals 20,000 hectares (6,000ha acquired in the first year and 14,000ha within the next two years). Out of the total planned area, 10% are allegedly destined to domestic producers.

The EIR also mentions that after four years of implementation, only rice test fields were done. Those test fields allowed high yield potential varieties – 8 to 10 tonnes per hectare – to be identified. A number of important issues to be addressed in order to ensure the protection of the environment and the people are also mentioned in the report.

For the representatives of Wanbao, despite the acknowledged difficulties dealing with the local farmers over the land transfer process and the introduction of new agricultural technologies (which they blame on cultural clashes and differences), Mozambique remains a very attractive country, with a lot of fertile land for agriculture and optimum conditions for foreign investment.

1.4 About the government of Mozambique

“Fertile land, skyrocketing demand for soybeans and rice, and a government willing to cut big land deals have put the former Portuguese colony at the center of the land rush sweeping the continent. In 2013 the nation was the third poorest on the planet, with almost half its children under five stunted by malnutrition.

Recent discoveries of world-class coal and natural gas deposits in the north as well as other mining and forestry concessions are slowly changing its fortunes.”

“The Next Breadbasket: Why big corporations are grabbing up land on the planet’s hungriest continent?” by Joel K. Bourne, Jr. for National Geographic, July 2014

During the eight years (2007-2015) that comprise the timeline of this case, Mozambique was ruled by three governments (the latter took office in January 2015), all of the same political force. During this period – under the “fighting absolute poverty” banner and thanks to both the discovery of several reserves of mineral resources and a controversial investment attraction policy characterized by incredible tax benefits and concessions – several megaprojects are established in Mozambique. Agriculture follows suit: large tracts of land are assigned to forest plantations, agribusiness begins to gain ground to the traditional model of family farming and, as the government gains momentum, reports of problems with local populations who complain of abuses of power, unfulfilled promises and land grabbing start to emerge. Several reports of various national and international civil society organizations denounce the multiple cases that erupt all over the country.

On many occasions, the government defends itself by arguing that its policy was a necessary evil to attract investment to the country and claiming that, in the long run, its decisions will bring prosperity. However, as Wanbao’s case clearly exemplifies – where to ensure the transfer of technology, the government created an association of farmers (Ponela’s Block Farmers Association for the Development of Farming and Agricultural Mechanization of Xai-Xai in Portuguese ARPONE – Associação de Agricultores Regantes do Bloco de Ponela para o Desenvolvimento Agro-Pecuário e Mecanização Agrícola de Xai-Xai) and handed its reins to known members of the party in power – what really resulted from promoting this development model were various social problems, numerous projects lacking sustainability and an unequal distribution of the wealth obtained, largely thanks to the established secrecy surrounding these mega-contracts, described by many as waters filled with conflicts of interest where some of Mozambique’s key players swim.

It is worth mentioning that from mid-2013 until today, Mozambique is experiencing a political and military tension escalation. While between 2013 and 2015 the two major political forces in the country fought about changes in the electoral law with the 2015 General Elections in mind, today both claim victory in the election, to which FRELIMO was declared winner despite serious evidences of electoral fraud in several polling stations. Truth is that since 2013 the centre region of the country has been the stage of several armed clashes.

1.4.1 Strategic Plan for Agricultural Development (PEDSA) Like other large-scale projects underway in the country, the Government of Mozambique places Wanbao’s project under PEDSA, a scheme established by the National Planning System with a medium/ long term vision, based on the national guidelines drawn for agriculture and on the priorities of the common guiding framework for African countries to improve the performance of its agricultural sector – the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. In line with the principles advocated by PEDSA, the government argues that Wanbao’s project will contribute to food security in the region and will help reduce the country’s imports.

The main criticism pointed at this scheme and at the country’s current agrarian policy by its many sceptics is that its instruments benefit the great investments/ mega-projects at the expense of the peasants, since today, the main challenges faced in Mozambique by small farmers are land tenure insecurity and the systematic violation of the fundamental rights of those affected by large investments/ megaprojects.

1.4.2 Statement of MICOA’s Provincial Director in Gaza In a conversation with us in June 2015, the Provincial Director of MICOA admitted that she heard, albeit informally, that when Wanbao’s project kicked off, it generated conflicts with local communities. She was also informed of the peasants march, and she also said she regretted that the process had been conducted the way it was.

In a speech completely out of sync with the actions of the government she represents, she said that, small or large, consociated culture plots supported many families and helped in reducing the country’s poverty – allegedly Mozambican government’s main goal. And she finished by saying that foreign investment should bring benefits to the people of Mozambique, not costs. You cannot fight poverty by depriving people of their livelihoods, displacing them to infertile areas and taking measures that put them at risk.

1.5 About the Communities in the Project Area

“Wanbao’s intervention is made through a «publicprivate-people» partnership implemented with focus on the technology transfer to local farmers program, allocation of infrastructured areas, support to the nutritional program and joint operations. The technology transfer component will benefit thousands of local producers.”

“Regadio do Baixo Limpopo em vias de tirar Moçambique do mapa de importador de arroz” (The Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area is about to take Mozambique out of the rice imports chart) by Almiro Mazive for AIM – Mozambican Information Agency, 31st of August 2013

RBL’s Chairman of the Board of Directors confirmed to us that the project is being implemented in an area occupied by about 79,868 inhabitants of the various districts of the city of Xai-Xai, and surrounding neighbourhoods and villages across the region. Farmers in the region use the land for their subsistence, both as a food source and as a way to obtain some income – from selling its products in local markets.

2. The Wanbao case “The Government of Mozambique has granted 20,000 hectares of land to a Chinese company called “Wanbao Agriculture” for rice production for a period of 50 years. This area corresponds to 22% of the total irrigable area of the Lower Limpopo, Gaza province. This decision means about 80 thousand people should abandon their land.

The company is now invading the areas of Hluvucaze, Languene and Gumbane that were not part of the project, and the populations of five (5) neighbourhoods of the administrative post of Chicumbane were left without land to practice agriculture and graze their cattle. And they fear these occupations may continue to other areas also used by the communities. The Government is providing no information to the communities. People are just watching their land being occupied.”

Canalmoz, 25th of October 2012

After being granted 20,000 hectares by the Mozambican government without the consent of the communities, Wanbao with RBL’s support, using bulldozers and tractors, gradually invaded small plots of land used by the population, destroying their crops (many ready to be harvested) and opened ditches so deep and wide that they significantly constrained the movement of people and their abundant cattle in the area, causing a lot of upset. These constraints have affected about 500 farmers and peasants from different parts of the district of Xai-Xai, whose farms were in the areas of Kana Kana and Baixa Fome in the Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area.

According to the affected farmers, RBL then assigned them a new area to farm, but a cotton-producing company has been occupying that area since colonial era.

This situation only generated more confusion and suspicion. Also, according to the people, in an attempt to provide information to the population, Wanbao’s staff made it clear to the peasants (using gestures, because they don’t speak Portuguese nor Xitchangana) that they had already paid the Government and, as such, they were only exercising their right.

After that, a group of concerned women went to the District Government to ask the Administrator for answers, but he did not receive them. JA also tried to schedule a meeting with the Administrator, but again it was not possible, allegedly because he was absent, even though we know that not to be true.

After this failed attempt, the farmers affected by this first incursion, which were more than 100 and mostly women, gathered in protest again in Kana Kana along one

of the fields access roads, where they believed they would meet the administrator.

They made a real stand in front of their lands, stage of their crops destruction by Wanbao.

The situation was volatile. In the hands of the crowd even some machetes could be seen. But no administrator nor any member of the government passed by, only a RBL technician that claimed no responsability, but assured them he would take the matter to those responsible. The infuriated people held back.

Facing this scenario, JA contacted RBL and set up a meeting with the Administrator and the Executive Secretary of the PCA, where it sought to sensibilise them and remind them of their responsibility for the social and economic welfare of the population.

RBL’s administrator was apparently displeased and surprised by Wanbao’s attitude in destroying the maturing crops and said he could not guarantee any kind of compensation, only that the land would be returned and the ditches covered.

That is, briefly, the representatives of the RBL assured us that they would contact Wanbao so that they would stop their work, return the fields to the people and cover the ditches. And so it was. The plots were vacated and returned to the people, but they were offered no compensation for damages.

During the first half of 2013 Wanbao invades the land they had returned to communities for a second time. This time around, a number of civil society organizations, including JA, Gaza’s National Organizations Forum (FONGA), the Human Rights League (LDH) and Gaza’s National Union of Peasants (UNAC), helped the population exercise their right to petition, denounce and complaint (under Law No 2/96 of January 4th), organizing a peaceful march that culminated with the delivery of a petition, addressed to the Gaza Province Governor, which contained all the concerns and demands of those affected by the aforementioned project. To date, the petition has not had any response. Later, when asked about the destruction of the maturing crops, Wanbao representatives confirmed that the incident happened and regretted it. According to them, during the undertaken community consultations, it was agreed that the people would cease their agricultural practices, since the Mozambican government had already transferred the land to them. However, the locals continued to produce and when the scheduled date for the start of their activities came, the company began farming ignoring the existing cultures.

Adding up to the destruction of their crops, to the forced, inadequate and devoid of due compensation reallocations, and to an incomprehensible and almost total absence of communication, the project comprises other problems that we consider worrisome. We’ll cover some.

2.1 Start of activity without an EIA and without an Environmental License

According to a letter from the Ministry for the Coordination of Environmental Action (MICOA) dated September 30th 2013 (on the next page), the Final Environmental Impact Study Report (EIR) for this project was only approved in September 2013.

On the topic, in an interview granted to JA in 2012, RBL’s president of the board of directors said that because it was a project whose purpose is to benefit the people of Mozambique, it did not require an approved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to begin its activities. - This statement is backed by no legal support.

In turn, in June 2015 at a meeting with JA, a technician of the Provincial Directorate of MICOA said he did not know if Wanbao (whose project – as stipulated by Decree No. 45/2004 of September 29th – falls into Category A and, as such, requires an EIA) had already obtained the proper environmental permits. He said that the project approval process had been dealt with at central level and, as such, also could not tell if Wanbao had already made the 250 million US dollars payment (determined

by MICOA) to initiate activities, in accordance to the Regulamento sobre o Processo de Avaliação do Impacto Ambiental (Environmental Impacts Evaluation Process’ Regulation), nr.1 a) of Article 25 of Decree 45\2004 of September 29th. In June 2015, on a meeting with Wanbao’s representatives, JA learned that the company did not hold an Environmental License, allegedly due to a lack of funds for payment of the 250 million dollars rate set by MICOA. Similar to what was said in 2012 by RBL’s president of the board of directors, according to the representatives of the Chinese company, because this was a agricultural project it was not imperative to obtain the aforementioned legal document to start the activities. – Another assertion without any legal basis.

Legally, the truth is that the operations of Wanbao exhaustively violate the above Decree 45/2004, of September 29th, that establishes the mandatory realization of EIA’s for any economic activity project proposal, as well as the also mandatory attainment of an Environmental License, obtained through the nonnegotiable payment of its fee.

2.2 Community Consultation and its Approval

According to many of the farmers affected by the project, Wanbao did not even properly inform the affected people during the process that led to the usurpation of their land. The loss of land where they farmed for more than 30 years, took place without transparency nor compensation. To make things worst, when Wanbao’s machines “cleared” the fields, they also “cleared” many farmers maturing crops. This is confirmed by the absence of any copies of community consultation transcriptions on local government files, Provincial Directorate of MICOA’s files, as well as in RBL and Wanbao’s files too. Incidentally, although essential for the entire licensing process of the project, this document is not even mentioned on its EIR. Community consultations are extremely important to avoid future conflicts.

Typically, during community consultations, the parts discuss the reason for the meeting, the proposed project data, the land legislation regarding the process and the rights of the community. Community members are given the opportunity to ask questions and discuss pros, cons and other implications of the project.

The Land Law stipulates “agreements or promises made during the community consultation are included in the consultation transcription and are considered mandatory” (Regulamento da Lei de Terras, Decree 15/2000 of June 20th, Decree 45/2004 and Decree 31/2012 of August 8th).

Despite the fact that, in the opinion of many, unfortunately they have very little weight in the legal process, community consultations are not optional and exist for a reason.

2.3 Violations of labour law

A recurring complaint of the peasants is the systematic violation of their labour rights. Work without contracts, salaries below the charts, overtime without pay, unjustified unilateral contract termination and some cases of mistreatment of Mozambican workers.

2.4 Agro toxics?

We suspect that the Wanbao project uses agro toxics (chemicals used for pest control to prevent diseases caused by micro-organisms and to prevent the growth of plants other than those of cultivation). These substances, when used on a large scale (in projects as large as this is) can cause serious problems to the environment.

In an ecosystem such as the one found on the Limpopo Irrigation Area, the risk is the contamination of soil and water and hence fauna and flora. Excessive/ unregulated use of agro toxics may, for example, seriously threaten the population of several species of fish of the Limpopo River.

2.5 Disrespect for cultural and spiritual values

According to their tradition, several families of local communities buried their dead within the perimeter of what is today Wanbao’s concession. In view of this, the company funded the exhumation of those graves, but in many cases the graves were simply removed without any care or discretion.

2.6 Unfair Profit sharing

Farmers complain that Wanbao sells the rice it produces at normal market price, sometimes even above its competitors price, but despite this, it does not pay them a fair value for it, keeping the bigger portion of the profits. Thus, the so-called transfer of technology that should benefit the whole country, is paid (at various levels) strictly by those who should benefit the most from it. In other words, we are not benefiting from any transfer of technology, we are providing cheap labour.

3. The odd Case of Gaza’s Penitentiary

On October 19th 2015, at the exact moment that a team of JA and over 90 farmers from Baixa Fome and Kana Kana ended a meeting about the latest invasions of their fields, a truck loaded with blocks and carrying some men arrived at the scene. The men were prisoners accompanied by prison guards, and when they arrived, they immediately started unloading the blocks under the watchful eye of guards. This scenario triggered an immediate angry response from the population.

Understandably nervous, the peasants, ignored by their government, advanced boldly towards the group to ask them what were they doing there. Upset, they approached them in quite an aggressive and intimidating manner, creating a very tense moment. Prison guards were armed, and although they responded toe-totoe to the population’s hostile approach (which scared us a lot) they fortunately remained calm enough to allow us to explain the situation to them and calm down everyone. The population, in the meantime, also realized how unwise were their actions. Reason and dialogue restored, the group of men said that they had been awarded the area by RBL. Concerned, JA, FONGA and LDH immediately contacted RBL’s president of the board of directors, exposed the situation and scheduled a meeting for the next day.

It should be noted that, so that they could also bepresent at the meeting, RBL had agreed to contact the leader of Chimbonhanine Community and a representative of the Committee of Peasants, however, this did not happen and they would not have participated had JA not contact them and picked them up.

RBL was represented at the meeting by two technicians from the social area.

3.1 Meeting, October 20th 2015

Statements by representatives of farmers According to representatives of the affected farmers, in a first instance they had manually plowed the land and were only waiting for the rain to harvest it, when they heard there were tractors plowing their fields. They headed to their lands and they approached the invaders asking them to stop because the land was theirs.

The men stopped working, assembled and talked to each other, made phone calls and then went away without giving any explanation. However, a few days later they resumed their activities, this time ignoring their protests. It was then that the farmers asked for JA’s support, whose visit curiously coincided with another invasion. Now, before local leaders and RBL representatives, they wanted to know what was happening.

Intervention of the Community Leader of Chimbonhanine and of the Head of the Peasants Committee of Baixa Fome According to the Community Leader and the Head of the Peasants Committee, RBL approached them and asked them if there was any possibility of them granting the Gaza Penitentiary an area of 320 hectares awarded to the population by the Provincial Government over 24 years ago and occupied by 52 families of the Chimbonhanine community (more than half of this area has since been occupied/ handed over to Wanbao). In exchange, to those 52 evicted families, RBL proposed new land in an area owned and cultivated by the Community of Magul, another victim of Wanbao. The leaders said they refused the offer stating that the proposed area, as it was, barely gathered conditions for those who were already there.

Therefore, it was with surprise that they found the tractor with Penitentiary men plowing their land. Unable to dissuade them and given their persistence, they requested JA’s support, who arrived in time to witness a new invasion. Now, they reiterated that they expected RBL to clarify what happened.

Statements by representatives of RBL According to RBL, the company works with and for more than nine thousand peasants/ farmers, a number that increases every day. According to their version of events after being approached by the penitentiary, the company analyzed unexploited areas and contacted Inhamissa’s Casa Agrária, whom with they identified the area in question. After that, they plowed 42 hectares and later 28 more, totalling 70 hectares. When the population intervened, RBL told the Penitentiary to stop the works. Then, they sought the Community Leader and the Head of the Peasants Committee in order to resolve the conflict caused by them not having consulted/ talked to the peasants.

After this, a committee of farmers/ peasants representatives was nominated to manage the conflict. This committee, headed by the Secretary of the Committee of the Peasants – who guaranteed he was working in consensus with the Leader of the Community and the Committee Head – identified a 48-hectare area that was drawn up to relocate the farmers who had lost their fields. According to RBL’s representatives, the Secretary said he had spoken to the affected farmers and they have agreed to exchange. However, given the statements of the farmers, of the Leader of the Community of Chimbonhanine and of the Head of the Peasants Committee of Baixa Fome, they recognized they had been working with the wrong people and had led the process incorrectly, so, on RBL’s behalf, they apologized for what happened.

When asked if these conflict resolution meetings were documented, or if anyone had at least taken notes, they said no. They said they considered it routine work and, as such, did not find it relevant.

JA, LDH and FONGA, recommended RBL the following: • To always involve the largest possible number of peasant representatives and local leaders, as to avoid future conflicts and misunderstandings, and to ensure a transparent, fair and inclusive process; • To properly document all meetings with the tools possible (notes, minutes and the fundamental signature of all participants); • To care, above all, for the welfare of the peasants (their duty as a Public Company) working within the rules; • To meet with the Community Leader of Chimbonhanine and with the Head and Secretary of Baixa Fome’s Peasants Committee to resolve the conflict; • To immediately write a letter to Gaza’s Penitentiary ordering them to stop their activities until the conflict is solved.

At the end of the meeting the farmers complained a lot about the government’s posture, they accused it of disregard and disrespect, and condemn their complicit silence.

Ten days later the peasants were allowed to return to their fields.

4. Testimonials During our monitoring, we conducted several interviews in Marien Ngouabi, Patrice Lumumba, Inhamissa, Chicumbane and Chimbonhanine communities.

Here are some that we consider relevant: Jossias Langa, resident in the Marien Ngouabi community and a peasant in Baixa Fome, lost 4 hectares of maturing crops to Wanbao. For the plowing and sowing of his land, he got a bank loan that he intended to pay back with the money obtained from the sale of the products we was growing. Without another source of income, he had no way to settle his debt. He ended up agreeing to produce 2 hectares of rice for the Wanbao project. He had handed in the rice two months ago, but to his sorrow and frustration, Wanbao had not paid him yet, claiming not to have money at the time. This was reported by more than 10 farmers involved in the same project, angered because they had lost their land, were forced to work for those who usurped it, and remained empty-handed.

Angelica Moyane, a widow, also a resident of the Marien Ngouabi community and a peasant of Baixa Fome, held 1\2 hectare in the irrigated area. She managed to harvest two tons of corn amongst other small scale crop varieties for her own consumption and to help her pay the education expenses of her four grandchildren.

She invested her time and her little financial resources to buy seeds and plow the land for sowing, and now she is upset because she lost her crops.

Raquelina Mathe, an elderly widow, peasant in Kana Kana and a resident in the District of Inhamissa with 7 dependents, had 1 hectare that during the year produced enough for her to support herself and the education of her family’s children. The destruction of their cultures seriously threatened the survival of her family.

Jossias Manhique, a resident in Chimbonhanine, had 12 bovines (each worth approximately 15,000 to 18,000 Meticais) which he used as workforce on plowing season to work on his and other peasants farms. The animals allowed him to live with dignity . When their lands were handed over to Wanbao, because he was left with no place to graze the cattle, he had to shoot down most of them and sell others below their value. (This fact is also reported by other farmers, some of which retained part of the cattle today, but due to lack of pasture, the animals are in very bad condition today.)

“Vovó” Felismina is an elderly resident of the Marien Ngouabi area who, according to her testimony and that of her neighbours, had a heart attack when she saw their crops being destroyed by Wanbao’s machines. With nine grandchildren who depended on her farm, the debilitated widow now lives a miserable life, depending of the charity of some of her neighbours. The oldest of her grandchildren (who are all orphans) although a minor, had to start working grazing cattle in order to help his grandmother, but his wages are not even enough for his own sustenance.

Felismina lacks food support and healthcare and lives in a house that does not meet minimum requirements for a human being.

5. Conclusions

The Law is very explicit when it says that “the land is state property,” that means that it belongs to the Mozambican people.

The requirement to consult local communities before welcoming investors and other stakeholders who are interested in the land, is considered one of the main innovations of the Land Law (Article 13, paragraph 3). To occupy land, the investor (or the state), as a (new) applicant, is required by law to hold a community consultation in order to determine if the desired area is free and has no occupants.

But does the acquisition of the Right to Use and Benefit from Land (DUAT) by natural or legal persons (in accordance with subparagraph c) of article 12 of Law 19/97 of October 1st) supersede the other forms of acquisition set out in that same Article?

Under Article 13 nr. 2 of the same Law, the absence of title shall not affect the Right to Use and Benefit from Land acquired by occupation by individuals and local communities, according to the norms and traditional practices and occupation by individuals who, in good faith, have been using the land for at least 10 years.

In turn, the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique (CRM) cautions that the state’s economic policy is aimed at the construction of the fundamental bases of development, the improvement of the people’s living conditions, the strengthening of state sovereignty and the consolidation of national unity through citizen participation as well as through the efficient use of human and material resources, without jeopardising balanced development. More, the State guarantees the distribution of national wealth, recognizing and valuing the role of producing areas, and it is its duty to promote, coordinate and supervise economic activity, acting directly or indirectly to solve the fundamental problems of the people and to reduce social and regional inequalities. Its role is to boost the promotion of development in a balanced way.

This did not happen in this case.

It is also worth noting that the public administration bodies have a duty to respond to clarification requests by the citizen, and to consider and comment on the observations, suggestions and recommendations. (In accordance to Decree 30/2011 of October 15th and Law nr.14/ 2011 of February 8th).

Mozambican Law is clear and accurate, for the sustainable and balanced development, for the non-violation of human rights of citizens and for fair reimbursement/ compensation for any damages resulting from economic activity.

We are not saying that the Wanbao agricultural project in Lower Limpopo’s Irrigated Area is a bad initiative, but to be held correctly, it should be based on a harmonious

relationship with other stakeholders, as well as with nature, which unfortunately is not the case.

This conflict, like many others, shows that a bigger effort is necessary to optimize these processes, so that in the future they can run in a more transparent, inclusive and democratic manner. All parties should be included in the decision process and those decisions must be guided by a holistic approach, where all the dimensions of the desired result (environmental, social, cultural, spiritual and economic) are contemplated. This can only be achieved if the contribution of all parties is taken into account.

The main objective of this document is to contribute to the resolution of the conflict and bring justice to the affected parts.

6. Recommendations 1. Wanbao and the Government should present an official apology to the communities for the suffering and loss caused by the Project; 2. All of the usurped land should be returned to the communities; 3. Under Article 58 of the CRM, which states that “1. Everyone shall have the right to demand, under the law, compensation for damages that were caused by the violation of their fundamental rights; and 2. The State is responsible for the damages caused by illegal acts of its agents in the exercise of their functions, without prejudice to the right of recourse under the law”, the people in the affected communities should be fairly compensated; 4. Communication between the parts must be improved and increased and the modus operandi in decision-making also needs to be improved in order to become more inclusive; 5. Traditional knowledge, including cultivation techniques need to be relevant in making agricultural decisions, and the introduction of new technologies should be done taking into account traditional knowledge, as advocated by: • Point i of Article 11 of the CRM, which defines “the affirmation of the Mozambican identity, their traditions and other socio-cultural values” as one of the fundamental objectives of the State ; and • Article 118 of the same law, which says: “1. The State recognizes and values traditional authority legitimized by the people and according to the common law; and 2. The state defines the relationship of traditional authority with other institutions and fits their participation in economic, social and cultural development in accordance with the law.”

6. The laws of the Country are to respect and follow. The Environmental Impact Studies are not optional, should be prepared as carefully as possible and should be honoured. They exist to protect us; 7. All forms of DUAT acquisition established by the law must be respected and honoured equally, as established in Article 12 of Law 19/97 of October 1st: “The right to use and enjoyment of land is acquired by: a) occupation by individuals and local communities, according to the customary norms and practices that do not contradict the constitution; b) occupation by national individuals who, in good faith, have been using the land

for at least ten years; c) approval of the application submitted by natural or legal persons in the manner prescribed in this Act.” 8. The State must not sacrifice the people for the sake of development. Their role is another, as stipulated in Article 103 nr.2 of the CRM: “The State shall guarantee and promote rural development for the growing and multiform satisfaction of the needs of the people and the economic and social progress of the country.”

9. Finally, we encourage all the affected people to continue acting within the law, reminding them that Article 80 of the CRM states that “citizens have the right to disobey illegal orders or orders that affect their rights and freedoms.”

Datasheet Title At The Lower Limpopo Irrigated Area Authorship Gizela Zunguze Published by Justiça Ambiental – Friends of the Earth Mozambique Coordination and Revision Anabela Lemos and Daniel Ribeiro Fieldwork Gizela Zunguze, Manuel Chauque, Samuel Mondlane, Xavier Pene and Daniel Burgos-Nyström Text Editing and Layout Outra Perspectiva Cover Photo Samuel Mondlane Free distribution

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Justiรงa Ambiental and in no way reflect the position or opinion of the financiers.