Gendered Terms of Incorporation and Exclusion in Rural Mozambique: Unpacking Pre-existing Inequalities and Mechanisms of Compensation

Abstract

Existing literature focuses primarily on the general impacts of land grabbing and their compensation mechanisms. However, pre-existing  structures of inequality heavily condition and differentiate the outcomes of land expropriation and compensation mechanisms. With this  in mind, this article addresses the differentiated impacts of such mechanisms on diverse segments of the rural population. Through the  experience of the operations of a tree plantation company in rural Mozambique, this research shows that compensation mechanisms are not improving the livelihoods of affected rural households. Because pre-existing inequalities are not addressed, female access to  opportunities is limited. Women-headed households are at higher risk of being excluded. Most end up adversely incorporated, ultimately  resulting in the exclusion of the majority. They are more likely to suffer negative impacts of land grabbing even where compensation  packages are implemented. The article shows how the burden of social reproduction is further transferred to, and ultimately carried, by women, as affected households increasingly depend on female productive and reproductive labour to survive the impact of land  acquisition on their rural livelihoods.