Brazilian megaproject in Mozambique set to displace millions of peasants

Published on Friday, 30 November 2012 22:03

(Maputo, Mozambique - 29 November 2012) - The Brazilian government and private sector are collaborating with Japan to push a large-scale agribusiness project in Northern Mozambique. The project, called ProSavana, will make 14 million hectares of land available to Brazilian agribusiness companies for the production of soybeans, maize and other commodity crops that will be exported by Japanese multinationals. This area of Mozambique, known as the Nacala Corridor, is home to millions of farming families who are at risk of losing their lands in the process.

The Nacala Corridor stretches along a rail line that runs from the port of Nacala, in Nampula Province, into the two northern districts of Zambézia Province and ends in Lichinga, in Niassa Province. It is the most densely populated region of the country. With its fertile soils and its con-sistent and generous rainfall, millions of small farmers work these lands to produce food for their families and for local and regional markets.