Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
1 December 2009
column
The Majune District in southern Mozambique is truly blessed with forests of pristine beauty.
For decades the region bore the brunt of the country's two wars that lasted 25 years. The forests were the battlefield during the war of independence from Portugal from 1964-1974 and the civil war from 1976-1992. But 17 years after the rebel war, the district looks different. The splendour of nature has returned. Not to attract photographic safaris though.
The Majune story is not that of a young beauty who has just discovered her full potential and is beginning to attract the attention of adoring males. The area is yet to discover its full potential in terms of attractiveness. The residents have not even realised that it is a possible tourist destination. Perhaps it will never be. As it is, Majune has been identified as suitable for arable farming, to the chagrin of environmental conservationists and NGOs like Botswana's Kalahari Conservation Society (KCS) and the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM), made up of civil society organisations from Namibia, Angola and Botswana. Recently, Felix Monggae the chief executive officer of KCS and a member of the Botswana Tourism Board led a team from Botswana, Namibia and Angola on a week-long tour to share experiences with Mozambique on natural resources management. After the tour, there was a general observation that farming in Majune could wipe away the scenic beauty of the area even before it can realise its potential as a successful ecotourism product.
The Majune District in the Nyasa Province of Mozambique has gorges that run many kilometers in between mountains. The huge green forests lining the gorges are a real treat for any lover of nature. Along the bumpy dusty road that snakes through the remote region, Isenberg Mountains are a feast to the eyes. Countless all season streams meander from the highlands in an area with fertile red soils.
But the encroachment of arable farming gives a picture of a fresh and beautiful body being wasted by a virus - the signs of the fast approaching destruction of the forests.
Evidence of indiscriminate burning of the bush are common. The destruction by unmonitored veldt fires is rampant. In one instance the vegetation on a whole mountain had been razed to the ground by the fires and nobody seems to care.
Illegal settlement by farmers trying to fight poverty by exploiting the natural resources particularly the forests are a common thing. Huge chunks of forest are disappearing through the activities of those who trade in resources such as gum poles, firewood and charcoal.The firewood is sold to urban dwellers in piles along the road, while a charcoal sub-industry is thriving, leading to mushrooming of illegal settlements or villages in the area.
The forest is usually burnt to create space for a new settlement whose residents embark on charcoal making and felling of poles to sell.
An officer at Mozambique's regional water unit says the people in the area are nomadic and have resisted the government's attempt to settle them formally. Most of the illegal settlers are victims of two wars who are now trying to rebuild their lives.
Meanwhile, Majune is attracting investors from as far away as Europe and Brazil. The investors want to set up large-scale farms, especially along the Ruvuma River. There are about four commercial farming enterprises in Majune and a bio-fuel production farm, the Luambala Jethropha. The bio-fuel farm is the first in the country. The chief director of Ara-Norte(water resources department), Dr Joachim Vasco Langa says the Mozambican government is in the process of assisting the setting up of a bio-fuel plant at the site to produce bio-diesel, possibly for export.
The Brazilian consultant at the bio-fuel farm, Carlos Alberto says the Mozambican project is unique in that it provides food and fuel. The one-year-old farm is producing wheat, maize and soya beans. The project is one of the emerging large scale arable farming activities in the district.
However Monggae has said that most of the people along the Ruvuma River basin live in abject poverty, with no potable water. "I think we need to ensure we improve the living standards of communities in the neighborhoods of these rivers. Big investors are farming in the region, ARA-Norte is also making money from levying these investors, which is welcome, but let us ensure it trickles down to the individual level."The standard of living is just poor. The communities live in makeshift shelter, their facilities are below the standard of living. The road is terrible. Even the water in the river is dirty. Yet the communities drink from the same river, wash their clothes, clean themselves, and water their livestock. I think the government needs to involve the communities more, so that they start really benefiting from the main river from which the government is making money," Monggae said. He suggested that Mozambique can learn a few things from the Botswana success story, where ecotourism along the Okavango Delta is benefiting the people.
"The Okavango communities make craft and basketry, while their community based organisations are given a chances to manage resources and make a living out of them.
Yes we observe people here are earning a living through charcoal making, but the sub-industry is unsustainable because there is no replenishing of the trees. Virgin land is being overly exploited. We saw trucks coming in for the charcoal and that shows that charcoal production is no longer at subsistence level. ARA-Norte and the government should find means to ensure that charcoal is sustainably produced," Monggae warned at the end of the weeklong visit.
Motoloki Katombo, one of the community representatives from Botswana, was disappointed that they were not able to interact with the ordinary residents of the area.
"I wanted to interact with the ordinary man like me. They should also be taking part in the decision-making concerning their natural resources. But now we only interacted with government officials. Where are the communities? The real owners of the land?"
For now ARA-Norte does not see a problem. The forest is putting bread on the table for many unemployed Mozambicans and the commercial farmers are paying for using the rich Ruvuma River water system. The prospect of Mozambique becoming a bio-fuel producer is captivating, while more commercial farmers in the area will ensure food security and employment for the nation.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
