Alternactiva

Agrarian and Climate Justice

Despite a gradual decline in the share of labor in agriculture, two thirds of the economically active population in Mozambique are family farmers. Although the majority live in rural areas, almost a quarter of the economically active population in urban centers also describes themselves as peasants (Castel-Branco, 2022). The country has suffered rampant deindustrialization in recent decades and the boom in the so-called extractive 'industry' employs only a small part of the population, mainly because none of these extracted mineral resources are processed and transformed in the country. It is also known that Mozambique is one of the countries in the world that suffers most from the consequences and impacts of climate change. We have been witnessing increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather phenomena. One of the most significant impacts of climate change in Mozambique and Southern Africa is related to food security. The region is particularly vulnerable to droughts, which lead to crop failures, water shortages and livestock deaths.

ALTERNACTIVA is committed to working towards agrarian and climate justice, which essentially translates into a fight for the rights of small farmers to access to land, agricultural inputs and adequate public policies in favor of the poor, so that they can achieve their sovereignty feed and adapt better to the climate changes that are devastating Mozambique and especially rural and peri-urban agricultural lands. See our work ( https://alternactiva.co.mz/justicaclimatica).