In 2009 the governments of Brazil, Japan, and Mozambique agreed to launch a long-term agricultural development program along the Nacala Corridor in Northern Mozambique. The aim of the program known as ProSAVANA is to replicate the successes of the transformation which took place in the Cerrado region of Brazil beginning in the 1970s, helping that country to become a major global producer of several agricultural commodities. The governments in charge of the program have promised poverty alleviation and food security for Mozambican farmers through investment in agricultural research and extension services, increased land tenure security, improved irrigation, roads, and storage facilities, and greater access to modern inputs and markets through contract agriculture.

However, since its early stages the program has faced intense opposition from small-scale farmers, peasant organizations, and national and international NGOs. There is great fear that the program will result in massive land expropriation benefiting corrupt politicians and foreign companies at the expense of the families farming in the region. These groups point to the massive concentration of land ownership and the environmental destruction that accompanied the transformation to large-scale mechanized agriculture in the Brazilian Cerrado. They also cite the large number of land conflicts in recent years between local small-scale farmers and foreign investors granted land concessions by the government.

The large majority of Northern Mozambique's population practices rain-fed subsistence agriculture with little or no access to chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or improved seed varieties. More than 40 percent of farmers fail to produce enough crops to feed themselves for the entire year. Very few people in the region have land title and thus are in a precarious position. There is little doubt that increased investment in the region could contribute to higher crop yields and greater food production. However, it is also possible that more investment may also lead to an increase in the number of land conflicts and expropriation of peasant lands.

In my thesis I will trace out the development of ProSAVANA and analyze some of the historical circumstances that may have contributed to the strong negative reaction against the program. I will review the Mozambican land tenure system and threats to the land tenure security of Mozambican peasants. I will look at the ways in which the opposition to ProSAVANA has led to changes in the rhetoric used in program documents, and possible changes to the priorities of the program itself. Finally, I will ask under what conditions the program may gain the acceptance of the peasant population and be considered a success.