When People have to Move Away: Resettlement as part of erosion control in Nacala, Mozambique

THE “NACALA INTEGRATED Urban Development Project”, which was funded by FINNIDA. It includes a description of a resettlement project to move settlements from eroded slopes which had been declared illegal in order to deal with problems of erosion in the centre of the city. This project report gives details of the resettlement initiative, including surveys and background to the resettlement zone, Triangulo, and the new settlement area, Mathapue, as well as a description of the process of resettlement and the problems encountered during the project. The report is in reaction to the UNCHS Habitat’s “Evaluation of Relocation Experience” team, which called for more detailed case studies of relocation processes and costs and benefits. The report also contains a chapter which describes the changes in the social situation of the “new city of Mathapue”, which is marked by an unusually high concentration of woman headed households for Nacala. There are interviews with residents - both with those who had moved to Mathapue and with those who had already been living there, and another chapter looks at the erosion control initiatives undertaken by residents who had remained in the legal area of Triangulo. The conclusions of the report ask who gained and who lost from the project, arguing that the poorest had suffered more, in terms of increased transport costs, lost employment and the cost of housing, and thus it was the poorest who were most reluctant to move. This leads to a discussion of control and support mechanisms, of the role of the chiefs, and an analysis of the projected sustainability of the project. Appendices include a reproduced brochure on Nacala city and further information on the Nacala Integrated Urban Development Project.