Mozambique – Land Tenure Services

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) disbursed over 39million USD as part of its Land Tenure Services Project (the “Land Project”) that aimed to improve land policies and regulations, improve the efficiency of land administration services, and expand access to land use, particularly for individuals and communities in selected urban and rural areas.

To address the complex land governance challenges facing Mozambique, the Land Project included three main activities: The Policy Activity, the Capacity Building Activity, and Site-Specific Activities in urban and rural areas. Apart from national-level activities, the Land Project focused primarily in the four northern districts of Mozambique.

The main objectives of the Land Project were to:

Improve the efficiency of land administration through the provision of systems and capacity building, thereby reducing the costs associated with acquiring and documenting land rights.
Increase land tenure security through the issuance of certificates of land rights (DUAT certificates) and cadastral mapping, leading to: a) increased land-based investments, resulting in higher productivity, and increased incomes for rural and urban families; b) reduced conflict as a result of clear evidence of land rights, and c) more active land markets, generating higher land values and improved allocation of land.

PDRI-DevLab collaborated with Social Impact on three separate evaluations of the Land Tenure Services program: (1) Institutional Strengthening, (2) Rural Site-Specific, and (3) Urban Site-Specific. The evaluations seek to understand the impact of the Land Tenure Services program on perceived land tenure security, investment decisions, livelihoods, well-being, and land-use change. Each of these included impact and performance evaluation components through a mixed-methods approach that triangulates findings from multiple quantitative and qualitative sources. This project is supported by a number of PDRI-DevLab Research Fellows.

Results

Land Administration

The project strengthened land administration and management in project areas relative to non-project areas, improving efficiency and reducing transaction times.
However, the process to acquire land certificates is still long, complex, and expensive.

Formality and Land Markets

Despite qualitative evidence of high demand for land certificates, applications have been decreasing towards pre-compact baseline values.
The project contributed to a modest increase in formal transactions and willingness to rent out land, but legal and institutional barriers continue to constrain land markets.
Customary systems continue to play a role in land governance and influence how landholders perceive formal land documents.

Land Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Value

The project strengthened land rights, increased tenure security, and reduced conflict in urban areas, with more limited impacts in rural areas.
The evaluation did not find evidence that the project resulted in increased investment or associated economic outcomes.
Reduced perceptions of tenure security in rural project areas compared to non-project areas is likely due to landholders in the project areas not all receiving certificates.

For more details on key findings, please see the evaluation brief.

Publications

Social Impact. “Mozambique Compact – Land Tenure Regularization – Rural and Urban: Final Evaluation Brief.” Washington, DC: Millennium Challenge Corporation, May 2024. https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/evalbrief-052824-moz-land-tenure-regularization/.

Social Impact. “Mozambique Compact – Land Tenure Regularization – Rural and Urban: Final Analysis Report.” Washington, DC: Millennium Challenge Corporation, December 2023. doi:https://doi.org/10.3886/rpwr-xx31.

Projects

Mozambique – Land Tenure Services

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