Using geospatial data to identify land grabbing. Detecting spatial reconfigurations during the implementation of the Nacala Development Corridor in Mozambique with remote sensing and land conflicts databases

ABSTRACT

The contemporary food system pushes agriculture to a globalized value-chain, affecting landscapes, resource access, and institutional arrangements. Institutions operating in Africa adopt development corridors to integrate multisector investments and induce export-driven primary sector, leading to massive land deals, also known as land-grabbing. Organizations struggle to monitor land deals accurately, lacking spatial precision and contextual information for affected communities. This research examines Mozambique's Nacala Corridor, using geospatial data as a tool to detect spatial (re)configurations due to exported-oriented policies and infrastructure. Data from land conflicts databases (Land Matrix and Environmental Justice) were analyzed with remote sensing Landsat and MODIS imagery using multiple indexes, an EVI time series, and the application of the LandTrendr algorithm. The results show that the temporal and spatial analysis of remote-sensing data is in line with the major political and economic dynamics of the region. Hotspots of land cover changes were detected in the same areas where land grabbing were reported; however, reported and detected land areas did not coincide. Temporal analysis showed that institutional changes played a greater role in triggering land use changes than infrastructure implementation. We conclude that land cover modifications, conflicts, and spatial development initiatives follows policies and institutional arrangements targeting international investments.

KEYWORDS:

• Land grabbing
• remote sensing
• development corridor
• development policies
• Africa

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge support by the DFG Open Access Publication Funds of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data regarding land conflicts were extracted from Land Matrix (https://landmatrix.org/) and Environmental Justice Atlas (https://ejatlas.org/), other sources were mentioned in the body of the text. Every image collection was accessed via open-sourced databases. Specific data used in the research as well as partial results can be shared upon request.

Notes

¹ https://landmatrix.org/

² https://ejatlas.org/

³ For a comprehensive description of the corridor trade project, see World Bank (2018)

⁴ Data from World Bank database: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD?end=2020&locations=MZ&start=1992&view=chart

⁵ List of projects from AUDA-NEPAD in https://www.nepad.org/countries/mozambique

Additional information

Funding

This research was developed with funds from the DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Program.