Fieldwork in Moçambique – Summer 2008

Research Team: Mariapia Mendola (Bicocca, Milan), Juan Miguel Gallego (U Rosario, Bogotà), Ines Raimundo (U Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo)

This is a research project on the micro-economics of labor migration in Southern Mozambique, which involves a fieldwork study and the collection of first-hand data through a household survey. Economic out-migration of people from Mozambique, mostly to South Africa, is a long-lasting widespread phenomenon, but little is known on its dimension and implications, in terms of opportunities and limitations for both migrants and people left behind. Taking the trans-national family or kinship group as the unit of analysis, the research focus is on the enduring ties that migrants maintain with their home community and the role of them in shaping socio-economic development at origin. The general project framework contributes to understand some of the more contentious impacts of migration, such as investment, educational, health and gender effects in the home region. A specific objective of the project is the investigation of the impact of labor migration in shaping participation in groups and social networks by the migrant's household in the community at origin. This is of interest in order to understand the local institutional changes that take place during the process of development.

I designed and organized the household survey conducted in Summer 2008 in collaboration with the National Statistical Institute and the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo.

Fieldwork and data collection have been concentrated in Southern Mozambique, where migration flows are more significant. A representative sample of 1000 households in 42 Communities (both urban and rural) in 4 Districts (Manhica, Magude, Chokwe’, Chibuto) of 2 Regions (Maputo and Gaza) in Southern Mozambique has been selected with a probability proportional to population size estimated from the most recent 2007 General Population Census data. In each of the selected communities, the population has been canvassed prior to the beginning of the survey to identify two groups of households in which there is at least one current international migrant and in which there are no migrants. The target number of households has be drawn randomly from each of the two subgroups, in the same proportion as the actual migration rate.

Along with household level questionnaires, in each area a community level questionnaire has been administrated, in order to document a range of natural and institutional features of the community, including infrastructure, characteristics of land, the presence of community organizations and institutions etc.

I prepared the survey instruments jointly with Juan Miguel Gallego Acevedo (LdA and Toulouse School of Economics). While in Mozambique, we pre-tested the questionnaires for consistency, validity, comprehension, and coverage prior to the start of the fieldwork in two bairros of Maputo (Huluane B and Xipamanine).

Four survey teams have been put together (one for each District), each including 4 interviewers and a supervisor (for a total of 20 people, plus 4 drivers and fieldwork guides). Supervisors and interviewers were females and males with a native-level command of the Shangana language. Some of them were undergraduate students of Geography with some prior experience in working with household surveys.

The staff recruitment was done in collaboration with the University Eduardo Mondlane and the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE). We had the pleasure to work with Prof. Ines Raimundo, Dr. Basilio Cubula, Costantino Axliendo, José Avelino Cembane, Zinérzio Ruben Sita, José Lourenço Chambal, Helder Sitoe, Matilde Bartolomeu Mufemane, Suzana Benjamim Valente, Carla Sebastião Domingos, Renato Bartolomeu Mufemane, Eleuterio Vicente Mondane, Carla Fernando Mubai, Amandio Luis Joaquim Ngulele, Alima Cassamo Quiba, Ázira da Graça R. M. Muhale, Sara Bibi Assumo.

I conducted the first training with interviewers and supervisors. A further training with supervisors was conducted by the sample designer from INE and a pilot survey was conducted at the beginning of data collection. Both Juan and I spent time in the field (in different times and places) supervising the ongoing data collection.

Household Questionnaire (Portuguese version).pdf

Community Questionnaire.pdf

Acknowledgments

This project would not have been possible without the support and the collaboration of many people both in Italy and in Mozambique. I wish to thank Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano (LdA) for financial support, and I am grateful to all fellows at LdA in 2007-08 who gave me feedbacks and support during the whole project preparation. I am especially grateful to Anna Maria Mayda for her helpful suggestions. I am also grateful to the Faculty of the Department of Economics at University of Milan Bicocca for their constant support and discussions during the preparation of the project. Last but not least, I am extremely grateful to Andrea Alfieri, Laura Anselmi and Debora Marignani for their invaluable friendship and hospitality during my stay in Maputo.

Some pics

BOOK REVIEW: Hanlon, J. and Smart, T. Do Bicycles Equal Development in Mozambique? Oxford: James Currey 2008, forthcoming in QA/La Questione Agraria 2009, n.1 (in italian) [pdf]