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Throughout history, land has been considered a main source of wealth, social status and power. This publication analyses the impacts of legal pluralism on women's land rights in Mozambique arguing that despite Mozambique's progressive legal framework, efforts are still needed to fully achieve gender equitable and socially just outcomes on the ground. With a largely rural population, and limited knowledge of statutory law, customary rules that are discriminatory towards women tend to prevail over the gender sensitive statutory law, undermining women's land rights.

Based on FAO field experiences in Mozambique, the document presents the realities of customary justice and challenges faced by rural women, suggesting a series of actions that could be undertaken by key stakeholders to overcome such challenges.