Agriculture

In Mozambique, official attitudes to foreign investment in the agricultural sector are positive. Several government projects, supported by foreign donors, have been encouraging large-scale investment in the agricultural sector, often under the theme of ‘growth corridors’.

In 2014 the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development (MITADER) was created. This move replaced the Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA). MITADER has separate national directorates for the land, environment, and forests and promises better coordination between these closely related areas with a single, unified development strategy and a renewed focus on improving law enforcement.

Our local network has obtained exclusivity on a number of agriculture assets across Mozambique who the owners wish to sell, moreover, we can assist you with all the government requirements to access the land via DUAT. We carry out detailed agricultural due diligence, and in conjunction with legal, accounting and valuation partners can carry out a full assessment of all potential opportunities.

• Sourcing farms and agricultural land
• Negotiation and structuring of transactions
• Due Diligence services, Assessment of land quality, documentation, machinery, and agricultural buildings
• Dealing with Notaries and other public officials
• Farm and agricultural land sales preparation and negotiation

Mozambique’s 1997 Land Law reasserts the state’s ownership of land and provides that entities, communities and individuals can obtain long-term or perpetual rights to land, even without formal documentation of those rights. This right is known by the acronym DUAT, from the Portuguese Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento dos Terras. Three documents constitute the legal framework upholding Mozambique’s land tenure system: The 1995 National Land Policy, the 1997 Land Law and the 1998 Land Law Regulations.

Furthermore, the are two main goals of Mozambique’s progressive Land Law – to protect and support rural community and smallholder land-rights while encouraging an inclusive and rights-aware private investment process. To help protect the community’s land from expropriation, the Land Law establishes that the expropriation of land could only take place for reasons of public necessity, utility, or interest and has to be preceded by payment of fair indemnification and/or compensation. The Land Law also states that consultation with communities should be undertaken prior to appropriation of any land in order to ensure that rights gained through occupancy are not ignored by investors.

In Mozambique, agricultural investors can acquire land use rights for a period of 50 years (renewable) by making formal requests to the State. In 2006 the government created the Agriculture Promotion Centre (CEPAGRI), an agency to promote large-scale foreign investment in the agricultural sector. Since then, a large amount of land has been given to larger-scale farming.

Two areas that are particularly attractive for agriculture are the fertile Zambezi river valley and the “Beira Corridor”, the latter due to its relatively well developed road and railway infrastructure, and the proximity to the port of Beira. The agricultural potential is lower in the South due to less abundant natural water resources, but potentially more attractive for investors due to its comparatively high levels of infrastructure

The Land Matrix organization, which tracks land grabbing investments all over the world, has recorded up to 84 large land acquisitions in Mozambique, totaling 2,448,000 hectares, making the country the 8th in the world in terms of transnational land acquisitions, and the 2nd in Africa, only after South Sudan. 

Our team understands the importance of robust financing and insurance provision to the agricultural sector and we can provide accurate reports and due diligence solutions on farming assets and farming related businesses.

Specialist assistance reporting and consulting to financial institutions and insurance companies in assessing farm performance and potential.
Compliance: environmental, operating licences, storage licences, machinery regulations, project permissions
Finances: Farm budgeting and cash flow projections and management
Crops condition assessment and soil assessment reporting

Our services include agribusiness planning, recruitment and training of ground staff, sourcing and maintenance of agricultural equipment, management of day to day operations, marketing crops, storage solutions etc. Through our highly skilled and commercially-oriented team we can customize the service for each client to maximize results and minimize risks.

Agronomics: Crop Varieties Planning, Operations Planning, Chemical Programs design and implementation.
Operations planning: Crop rotations, Campaign program, Workforce plan, Farming Insurances.
Machinery: Fleet design, Procurement, Maintenance programs, Training.
Recruitment: Farm workforce and other hiring.
Inputs’ Procurement: seeds, fertiliser, Agri chemicals, diesel.
Marketing: Grain sales and forwards, Supply chain assessment and Logistics management.

Following the biofuel rush witnessed in the country since the mid-2000s, the government of Mozambique adopted in 2009 a National Biofuel Strategy, approved after a consultative process that involved the development and dissemination of a comprehensive assessment on the potential for biofuel production in country. Moreover, he assessment indicated that biofuel production had the potential to increase revenue and generate jobs.

Agribusinesses face many challenges and developing an effective and efficient procurement related to their vital production process and manufacturing equipment is high on the list. Businesses in the agriculture industry typically operate at very low margins and depend on high-volume, consistent operations to remain profitable. They are routinely required to combat growing daily operating costs while still delivering high quality and safe products to customers unwilling to accept higher prices. Traditional cost-cutting measures, such as minimizing the stocking of expensive parts and equipment, are risky since downtime due to repairs or equipment failure threatens to cost more money than is saved.