The Guardian | 15 October 2014

With the ruling Frelimo party, in power since independence in 1975, facing a testing time at the polls from the opposition Renamo party. Frelimo has had to defend itself against accusations of landgrabs after the government leased land near Xai-Xai, in Gaza province, to China’s Wanbao Oil and Grain to grow rice. NGOs claim 38,000 families reliant on subsistence farming have been forced off their land; the government says the project is creating jobs and money to invest in schools … See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/24074#sthash.DP3u7zLZ.dpuf

Photograph: Mujahid Safodien Children herd goats in Chicumbane, a village south of Xai-Xai. Despite Mozambique’s economic growth in recent years, poverty remains widespread. More than 70% of poor households live in rural areas, where farming is the main source of income.