A Lei de Terras de Moçambique foi aprovada em Outubro de 1997 e é amplamente reconhecida como um passo político e legislativo inovador no contexto do continente africano. A lei tem como base a Política Nacional de Terras de 1995, que na sua declaração central, ou „mission statement’, oferece o esboço de uma estratégia de desenvolvimento rural onde a questão chave é como compartilhar os direitos sobre a terra entre ´o povo´ de um lado, e ´o investidor´, de outro:

A law can be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation and rural development.
In most developing countries, a majority of the population lives in rural
areas. Most rural residents—and especially the poorest people—depend
on the land for their livelihoods and long-term social security. Laws that
give people access and secure rights to land and encourage investment in
the land can establish a foundation on which rural families can grow their
incomes and assets. Good land laws can help create an environment that

The concept of use and benefit from natural resources for local communities in Mozambique occupies a central position in the formal government vision for rural development and has been given prominence in the policies that govern access to land use rights and forest and wildlife resources. There are constitutional guarantees that recognise rights to land that have been acquired through occupation or inheritance through customary systems of allocation, and enabling legislation that permits the registration of these hitherto ‘informal’ rights.

This series of briefs has focused on the importance of a legal framework
for land that fosters tenure security for rural citizens and provides a foundation forv equitable and vigorous rural development. However, good laws alone do not assure genuine reform. The effectiveness of a law depends on adequate capacity and the will to implement the law. In the case of land legislation, this applies to both those who claim rights— typically individuals, communities or firms—and those who administer land rights, namely the government and and legitimate non-state authorities (e.g.,

Post-war Mozambique confronted the challenge of reforming land policy and legislation
with an innovative land law that protects customary rights while promoting investment
and development. Most rural households have customarily acquired land rights, now
legally equivalent to an official State land use right. When necessary, they can be proven
by analysing local land management and production systems, resulting in large areas