Policies, natural resource governance and local development in Mozambique

[摘要] The role that agriculture should play in economic development has been recognised for years. Inrecent years, concern has been expressed over rising agricultural and food prices. The world marketprices for major food commodities have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent abovelevels just two years ago. Many factors have contributed to the rise in food commodity prices. Somefactors reflect trends of slower growth in production and more rapid growth in demand that havecontributed to a tightening of world balances of grains and oilseeds over the last decade. Otherfactors that have added to global food commodity price inflation include the declining value of the USdollar, rising energy prices, increasing agricultural costs of production; growing foreign exchangeholdings by major food-importing countries, and policies adopted recently by some exporting andimporting countries to mitigate their own food price inflation (Trestle, 2008).Mozambique has a vast extension of land and diversity of natural resources. Resources areinadequately used, the rural income continues to fall, and poverty is increasing. The rural standard ofliving has been deteriorating year by year. To date, estimations reveal that between 60 and 80percent of cultivated land in all the provinces is concentrated in areas between 0.2 and 1 ha. For asample of 192 farmers, using a translog stochastic production frontier like that of Bravo-Ureta andPinheiro (1993), who estimated a Cobb-Douglas total value product frontier for analysis purposes,the study found that the average economic efficiency (EE), technical efficiency (TE) and allocativeefficiency (AE) for the sample were 11.6%, 83.0% and 13.7% respectively. These results suggestthat there is considerable room to maximise resource usage and increase agricultural output withoutadditional input and given the existing technology.The adoption of new technologies designed to enhance farm output and income has receivedparticular attention as a means to accelerate economic development. However, output growth is notonly determined by technological innovations, but also by the efficiency with which availabletechnologies are used in the absence of inefficiency factors. As Bravo-Ureta and Pinheiro (1993)noted, the evidence presented in this study suggests that there is much room for improving theefficiency of natural resource management in general. The results based on frontier methodologyare generally consistent with the notion that local actors play an important role in the management oflocal resources; consequently, public investments designed to enhance human and social capital atlocal level can be expected to generate additional skills and output even in the absence of newtechnologies. The participation of citizens in all stages is crucial.It is recognised that qualitative variables have influence and potential importance in efficiency.Governance is considered within the framework of power, process and practice and how these haveshaped peasant access to and control and use of natural resources. Over the years, state visions ofappropriate agriculture development have largely been extended to the peasant sector through a use and management of resources to the peasant communities have largely resulted inrecentralisation at the district level, where such efforts are still practised in the trickle-down mode.This is in part because the policy thrust seeking to empower the peasant communities is supply-led,and thus defined according to the terms and processes of external agents, including funders andcentral governments,The research found that by improving institutions', citizens' and communities' capacity to addresslocal governance and decision-making through prominent, decentralised natural resourcesmanagement policies, they could participate more effectively in local development, gain experiencein democratic processes, and hold local officials responsible for their decisions. The study concludedthat natural resources play a strategic role in rural economies both as a potential source of long-termdevelopment and as the essential contributor to sustained food security. Access by the poor tonatural resources (land, forests, water, fisheries, pastures, etc.) is essential for sustainable povertyreduction. Many rural communities are dependent on natural resources in one way or another.Decentralising natural resource management and using local decision-making power is critical toimprove the revenue generation of citizens and local authorities. Local representative bodies needpower over the resources that affect rural sustainable livelihoods in order to become legitimate actorsaround which civic organisations and citizens rally for justice, sustainable livelihoods and economicimprovement. Decentralising natural resource management (NRM) can give local governmentsallocative powers over lucrative opportunities, both of which can help build local governmentlegitimacy. In short, local development can emerge.

[发布机构] University of the Free State