Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, immediately after a meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), Pacheco said there are no plans for any sale of land to Brazilians (in fact, any land sales would be illegal and unconstitutional, since the Mozambican constitution states that all property in land vests in the state).
“There is no sale of land”, stressed Pacheco. “What exists is a trilateral agreement between Mozambique, Brazil and Japan to promote the development of agriculture”.
Under this tripartite agreement, Mozambican farmers will be empowered in order to increase their production capacity, he added.
Asked about the claims of land sales made in the Brazilian press, Pacheco said the reporters concerned had not understood the nature of the agreement.
It was, however, true that six million hectares of arable land that can be used for agricultural development projects had been identified along the Nacala Corridor, which links the northern port of Nacala to Malawi. But anyone acquiring this land would have to do so in terms of Mozambican law – which clearly states that land cannot be sold or otherwise alienated.
The normal practice with land concessions is that they are granted in the form of a lease or a specific period, which could be as long as 50 years. Small allocations of land, of up to 1,000 hectares, can be granted by provincial authorities. Projects that require between 1,000 and 10,000 hectares must be approved by the Minister of Agriculture, while anything in excess of 10,000 hectares can only be granted by the Council of Ministers.
At the Cabinet meeting, Pacheco presented the results of the 2011 harvest. He described the 2010-2011 agricultural campaign as positive. 96.5 per cent of the production targets had been met – even before taking into account all the second sowings.
“We are complying with the plan, since there are still second sowing harvests to be included in the figures”, he said. “The indicators are positive”.
Pacheco announced that the official launch of the 2011-2012 agricultural campaign will be held on 16 October, in Barue, in the central province of Manica. The government’s target for the 2012 harvest is an increase of 10.9 per cent in food crops.
Post published in: Africa News