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Mozambique launches Swiss-funded LAGO, a project set to make a difference in Niassa
3:50 CAT | 20 Oct 2025
Photo: CESC
An innovative initiative to curb potential conflicts and inappropriate land use, ensuring better days for communities in three districts of Niassa province has been launched.
The Local Governance of Land & Natural Resources (LAGO) project, budgeted at US$7.3 million, targets the communities of Chimbunila, Mecanhelas and the Lago region. With a four-year horizon, the project aims to equip communities with land management methods that improve income generation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
LAGO seeks to empower local communities by facilitating land registration and integrating it into district land registry systems. The project aims to strengthen governance, establish accessible spatial data infrastructure and ensure equitable redistribution of resource revenues to local communities.
The project launch in Maputo last week emphasised that it will be implemented in a hybrid system, through the involvement of government entities, civil society, and the private sector, including the Civil Society Learning and Training Center (CESC), the company Terra Firma, the Legal and Judicial Training Center (CFJJ) and the Niassa Community-Based Paralegal Association.
The project is modelled on the LUR initiative, implemented between 2010 and 2023, aimed at promoting land and natural resource use rights, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Land and Natural Resources Governance
To contribute to efforts to promote good land governance through conflict prevention and improving community livelihoods, CESC and its partners launched the LAGO project, funded by Swiss Development Cooperation.
The initiative will be implemented by a consortium involving civil society organizations, government institutions, and the private sector, namely CESC, the Provincial Network of Paralegals for Arbitration and Sustainable Development – Environmental Justice for the Communities of Niassa (REPADES-JAC), the Legal and Judicial Training Center (CFJJ), and the company Terra Firma Lda.
LAGO was launched in Maputo on October 13, 2025 at a ceremony attended by several prominent figures, including the Secretary of State for Land and Environment, Gustavo Djedje; the Swiss Ambassador to Mozambique, Nicolas Randin; the Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights, and Legality, Ana Comoana; the Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, Gender, Technologies, and Social Communication, Lucília Hama; and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Tuarique Abdala.
The event included a moment of reflection on “Perspectives on Land Registration, Strategic Litigation, and Benefits for Communities”, with a speech by land and natural resources specialist João Carrilho.
A researcher at Observatório do Meio Rural OMR) and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Carrilho highlighted the importance of LAGO as representing the continuation of a project that has been implemented since 2010.
LAGO is the second initiative funded by Swiss Development Cooperation and implemented by CESC and its partners with the aim of promoting the equitable and sustainable socioeconomic development of rural communities through the advancement of land use rights and access to the benefits of natural resource exploitation.
Source: Domingo / Centro de Aprendizagem e Capacitação da Sociedade Civil - CESC / Embassy of Switzerland in Mozambique
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