There are at least 37,000 domestic workers in upper and working class suburbs of the Mozambican capital earning low wages and working long hours. Recent moves to include them in labour protection schemes could change their fortunes.

This paper analyses through empirical data women’s reality in Northern Mozambique related to land tenure. Two different kinship systems coexist in Mozambique, one patrilineal in force in Southern Mozambique and one matrilineal in parts of the centre and North of the country. The paper argues that in the current context, the right of women to access and administer land is being limited not so much by traditional and customary social rules and law, but rather by the adverse socioeconomic context which characterizes the whole peasant sector.

The Primeiras and Segundas have been approved as a marine protected area in Mozambique making this diverse ten-island archipelago Africa’s largest coastal marine reserve. Comprising ten islands off the coast of northern Mozambique, and featuring abundant coral and marine turtle species, the protected area will cover more than 1,040,926 hectares.

The Mozambiqan government has marked the northern Niassa province to promote commercial, large-scale tree plantations. Currently, the single biggest plantation in the region comprises of 13,000 hectares of eucalyptus and pine, owned by a company called ‘Chikweti Forests of Niassa.’ A government-led investigation in 2010 reported that the company had acquired over 32,000 hectares illegally. The big losers were small farmers, vulnerable due to lack of awareness and complicity of corrupt government officials.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza has argued that implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) should be delayed until 2016. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, where he was attending the Seventh European Development Days (EDD), Guebuza said 'our preference is for 2016. Everything is under negotiation and we are waiting for the results'. The EU is currently insisting that countries that do not ratify EPAs by January 2014 will lose out on the benefits of preferential access to European markets.

Mining and gas companies operating in Mozambique will face fines and may lose their operating licenses if they do not relocate communities in a way that protects their social and economic interests, a government official said on Tuesday. Mozambique passed a law in August to prevent global mineral companies from unjust resettlements. Violent protests earlier this year against previous resettlements threatened to derail investment in the booming economy.

The World Bank has admitted that it is largely to blame for the failure of the project to rehabilitate the Beira railway system. Indian consortium RICON was the dominant partner and was supposed to be in charge of the complete reconstruction of the Sena Line. The World Bank was initially enthusiastic about the project, and backed it up with a loan of 104 million US dollars. The Mozambican authorities, and CFM, soon began to sound the alarm. Ricon kept missing deadlines, and its work failed to observe technical standards.

Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz warned in Maputo against following advice by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would make the fight against inflation the number one priority of economic policy. Addressing an overflowing public meeting organised by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), Stiglitz, who is also a former chief economist at he World Bank, said he had been 'appalled' to discover that the IMF wants to impose 'inflation targeting' on Mozambique. He argued that, while low inflation might be desirable (and he praised the Bank of Mozambique for its handling of inflation, currently at historically low levels), it could not be the main goal of economic policy, which should also take into account such considerations as growth and employment.

Nobody can actually buy land in Mozambique. The government owns it all. But the government will give companies exclusive rights to land for 50 or 100 years, and it's really cheap. Mozambique's government, in fact, has been encouraging investors to come and take advantage of this land. Dozens of companies, both foreign and local, have lined up to seize the opportunity.

A participant of the UN Summit in Rio de Janeiero was denied entry into Brazil by the Brazilian authorities. Jeremias Vunianhe, a journalist and member of Friends of the Earth Mozambique, was denied entry at the airport of Rio de Janeiro on 13 June. Vunjanhe was expected to expose the negative impacts of Brazilian mining corporation Vale at the Peoples Summit, a parallel event of the UN Rio+20 Summit. Vale is one of the official sponsors of the UN Summit. Friends of the Earth Mozambique supported hundreds of Mozambican families which were resettled by Brazilian company Vale in the Moatize district and carried out demonstrations in recent months to reclaim their rights.

Forty years ago, the Incomati flowed through the Magudi District of Maputo, in majestic splendour, more than 700 metres wide during the wet season. Now, except during extreme flooding, the river broadens to a little more than half that width during the rains, and dwindles to a trickle during the dry season. The lower water levels in the Incomati River are attributed to increased demands upstream, where thousands of new arrivals draw water for irrigation, domestic use and livestock. The diminished river can no longer support the diverse aquatic plant and animal life that it used to.

The Mozambique government estimates that 80 per cent of its citizens use charcoal to cook. Almost everyone buys it on the informal market (here's an in-depth look at how that works), where it's the cheapest and most readily available cooking fuel. And it's that demand for charcoal that's feeding the plague of deforestation in Mozambique, where thick forests are razed at an increasingly alarming rate.

Experts predict that in the next decade there will be 4 million chronically malnourished children in Mozambique, which despite recent, rapid economic growth and the discovery of large natural gas deposits remains one of the world's poorest countries.

There is still much poverty in Mozambique and president Armando Emilio Guebuza has twice had to deal with outbreaks of social unrest. Since the end of the 16-year civil war, the country has been ruled by his Frelimo party - the main opposition are their former enemies Renamo, led by Alfonso Dlkhama. The relationship between the two has become uneasy in recent times - Mr Dlkhama recently threatened to overthrow the government. In this BBC podcast, Guebuza in interviewed by Audrey Brown.

This OSISA and AfriMAP report argues that Mozambique’s commitment to providing access to education in a country scared by years of conflict, with an illiteracy rate of 90 per cent in the 1970’s, has yielded strong results. However the sector still faces several difficulties that it must tackle urgently if it is to attain the MDG goal on education and gender parity.

A policy paper is to be presented to the annual World Bank conference on land and poverty in Washington DC in the United States, which focuses on the confrontation between peasant producers and investors in the Mozambican province of Zambezia. Written by Simon Norfolk and Joseph Hanlon, the paper looks at divisions in the Mozambican government over whether it should support foreign investment to promote a technological leap in agriculture, or if it should support small scale farming to increase productivity.

The latest issue of the Mozambique Political Process Bulletin is available and deals with anti-corruption legislation.
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Mozambique is addressing its chronic skills shortages with a campaign to lure back more than 25,000 nationals living abroad, who fled the country during its deadly civil war. The country is also expanding its skills-training programmes, while hundreds of Mozambican students are in China attending technical training programmes.

Drawing on the power of creative and entertaining arts to communicate messages, the 'Creative Arts for Youth HIV/AIDS Prevention – Music and Comics in Chamanculo', project is designed to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, as well as inspire youth to know their HIV status. Community Media for Development (CMFD) will be working with the residents of Chamanculo, a peri-urban community of Maputo, to create music and illustrated comic stories. The music will be the focus of a concert in Chamanculo, be distributed to radio stations, and become part of local band Sigauque Project’s regular repertoire of songs.

Some remain sceptical of what a massive gas find will mean for Mozambique's 23 million people, reports the UK Guardian. They question whether the government will direct enough of its new revenue towards infrastructure, which is still sorely lacking, and improving agricultural productivity – the biggest single tool for reducing poverty. Erik Charas, director of @Verdade (the Truth), Mozambique's biggest circulation newspaper, warned: 'There is a lack of transparency in these deals. They're making deals for generations to come and I have no idea about them. The lack of transparency is a major flaw. The people in power are negotiating on their own behalf. We might end up with 50 billionaires who own private planes and the rest of the population impoverished. That is our biggest fear.'