Enclosing the commons? A political ecology of access to land and water in Sussundenga, Mozambique

This dissertation examines smallholders' access to and use of land and water resources in Sussundenga District in central Mozambique. It takes a political ecology and historical perspective on how access to land and water resources has changed under different forms of political authority over the last 50 years. Patterns of authority governing access to land and other natural resources have shifted from pre-colonial chiefly rule to chiefly rule alongside Portuguese administration as Portuguese settlers arrived in Sussundenga in the 1950s and appropriated land and labor from African residents. Following independence, the new government embarked on a rural villagization program establishing communal villages in Sussundenga in 1979 and 1980. Though Frelimo attempted to marginalize traditional authorities in communal villages, regulos continued to exercise authority alongside newly imposed local party structures. The civil war (1976-1992) created food insecurity, curtailed agricultural production, and displaced populations. Political and economic liberalization undertaken in the late 1980s added more layers of complexity surrounding legitimating local authorities and control over land.;Despite the profound political and economic changes Sussundengans have experienced over the last half century, many continue to view chiefly rule as the most legitimate form of rule over land and people. Access to land and water remains rather flexible and negotiable, and many Sussundengans draw on chiefly authority to substantiate their claims to land. Rural residents who migrated to Sussundenga during the war have been incorporated into, not excluded from, the existing socio-political milieu through submitting to local chiefs in exchange for access to land. Although land and water are legally state property, the state does not exert absolute authority over resources, and instead, is one of several modes of power which shape access to resources.;I recorded numerous cases of people negotiating over access to wetland areas, which are critical for wet and dry season agriculture, and provide women fruits and vegetables for household consumption as well as income generating opportunities. Surprisingly, valuable wetlands have not been enclosed through a process of commodification and exclusion attesting to the flexibility of local norms and practices governing the control of these critical resources.;Based on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork including participant observation, identifying land and water resources, semi-structured interviews on access to land and water, semi-structured interviews with development workers and government employees, and analyzing land, water, and development policy documents, this dissertation documents the multiple ways Sussundengans claim access to land and the sources of authority they articulate to substantiate their claims.