Women’s land rights under the Mozambican Land Law: An ethnographic study of the matrilineal district of Majune, Niassa province, northern Mozambique

Abstract

The Mozambican Land Law (Lei de Terra) that was passed in 1997 seeks to formalize customary rights at a community level and provide equal access to land for men and women, while securing external investors access to land for their investments. This ethnographic study explores women’s land rights in Majune district, Niassa province, under the Mozambican Land Law. It focuses on the implications of the matrilineal structure prevalent in Majune on women’s rights to land in relation to the implementation of the Land Law. It further identifies obstacles for women related to their land claims. The questions that the study answers concern the interaction of the formalization of customary land rights with the matrilineal kinship inheritance system in Majune, the implications of the implementation of the Land Law for women’s land rights, and finally what obstacles women encounter in relation to their land claims. The main findings illustrate that women’s land rights in Majune are embedded in social and cultural relations that both influence their access to land and their lack of decision-making power regarding their land. The matrilineal system protects women’s access to land, however the decision-making authority generally remains with their male relatives or husbands. The main obstacles women encounter in relation to their land claims are maintained through socially constructed gender roles that restrain their abilities to enforce their land rights.