Ethanol vs resettlement

Since President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique inaugurated the recently completed Massingir Dam in the Olifants River on June 4 this year, it seems to be storing more than just the water it was built for. A storm could be brewing over land use south of the 2.8 billion cubic metre dam where a newly proposed biofuel project and a long-running resettlement programme are vying for the same land.
While every attempt was made to ask for comment on this story, Izak Holtzhausen of Procana (Camec) declined to answer any of the Kruger Park Times’ questions unless a joint interview with all the parties could be arranged at the same venue. As this was not possible, he then opted to “respond if we feel it necessary.”
About three years ago the Mozambican government earmarked about 70 000 hectares of land south of the Olifants River, outside the Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique, for the resettlement of the approximately 11 000 families that are resident in about eight villages in the LNP, which is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP).
The German development bank KfW will fund the pilot resettlement programme, which included several feasibility, economic and public participation processes.
“Everything was done, two model houses had been built, a compensation framework had been approved by the donors, the budget was approved for the pilot project and the contractor had been appointed to build 144 houses,” says Arrie van Wyk, project manager of the LNP.
Two villages, Macavene, 128 families, and Nangueni, 16 families, agreed to take part in the project that entailed moving to the proposed resettlement site outside the park where dwellings, similar to the model houses, will be built for them in host villages. They will also receive agricultural fields similar in size and quality what they currently have and grazing land will be made available for their cattle.
The host villages and Mozambican government were amenable to the concept and the use of the land had been approved for resettlement on provincial and district level.
It is this land that has become the bone of contention with a new player on the block, Procana.
While LNP was finalising the pilot project according to the donors’ and World Bank standards, Procana applied to utilise a portion of the same land for an ethanol project, claiming that it was the only soils suitable for the production of sugarcane.
As far as can be ascertained, Procana applied to use 30 000 ha of which 22 000 hectares will be planted with sugarcane the remainder of the land is ‘unsuitable’ for sugarcane production and will be used for the construction of the ethanol plant and other infrastructure. Some of this land could also still be available for grazing.
According to Arrie, there is still enough land available in the strip between the Olifants river and the proposed Procana project to develop the residential sites and agricultural fields for the communities to be resettled, but not enough grazing land as the proposed grazing area will be taken up by the Procana project.
Apparently the governor of the Gaza province, even though he was fully aware of the LNP resettlement programme, believes the ethanol project could be beneficial to the local economy - Procana claims to be able to create about 7 000 job opportunities - and would like all stakeholders to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
He proposed some 20 000 hectares south of the proposed sugarcane plantations to be allocated for grazing land.
“We, the LNP and Procana, are now in the process of appointing a consultant to determine the carrying capacity of the proposed land and to investigate the potential of cultivated fodder,” says Arrie.
However, any land granted larger than 10 000 hectares has to be approved by the ministers’ council in Mozambique and it appears this has not happened.
As for the 22 000 hectares proposed for the ethanol project, not much information is available about the project. The land is mostly mopane veld that will have to be debushed.
On July 24, the newspaper Beeld reported that the Procana-scheme is linked to Camec, the Aim-listed Central African Mining and Exploration (Camec) company with Billy Rautenbach as a major shareholder. Rautenbach faces charges of fraud and corruption in South Africa and was deported from the Democratic Republic of Congo as persona non grata on July 17.
According to Beeld, Camec needs about $280 million (R1,9 milliard) for the first phase of the ethanol project at Massingir, which it hopes to attract from investments from former sugar farmers who have sold their farms because of land claims in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The article states that Charles Senekal, former sugarcane farmer from Mkuze, has been appointed as executive manager, and the company hopes to be noted on the London AIM. It states Camec has a 60 percent share in Procana.
According to Beeld, the Independence Magazine, a Mozambican weekly newspaper, was to reveal how the proposed Procana project will be the end for the irrigation farmers and projects in the Chokue- and Chibuto area on the Limpopo rivers. These areas make up the backbone of Mozambique’s agricultural sector.
In dry seasons, the Massingir dam feeds water from the Olifants River to the Limpopo to sustain these areas.
The article commented on the implications of the ethanol project’s water extraction on the Chokue and Chibuto areas.
Beeld states that the editor of the Independent, Salamao Moyana, said the minister of agriculture requested that Moyana postpone publication until he could comment on the article.
However, on the Sunday before publication, six armed men robbed the newspaper of 12 computers and other documents. According to Beeld, Moyana did not want to speculate on the motive for the burglary.