Land of lost opportunities: transition and crisis in Mozambican agriculture

Abstract

This paper analyses the reasons underlying the failure of the collectivization of agriculture in Mozambique (1975-84). Two explanations are offered; first, Frelimo’s socializing policies reflected an inconsistent compromise between dualist and non-dualist views of the relationship between the peasant and “ modern” sectors of the economy. Second, the poor and middle peasants actively resisted the collectivist strategy of the government. The conflict between state and peasantry led to the collapse of agricultural production, the defeat of the collectivist strategy, and the slide of the country into a vicious civil war.