Nevertheless, little (if any) research exists on the consequences, economic and social, of land-mine clearance. In this project, we explore the economic consequences of landmine clearance in Mozambique, the only-so far heavily contaminated by land mines country officially declared land-mine-free in 2015, 23 years after the end of the civil war and the war of independence.
The analysis shows that while the local effects of clearance are small-to-moderate, land mine clearance is associated with considerable economic benefits for the economy, as there are sizable positive spill overs stemming from improved access to road and railroad infrastructure. Counterfactual policy simulations project considerable economic gains of demining if it was done in a strategic, centrally-planned and coordinated manner targeting proximate to roads-railroad areas and towns serving as local trade hubs–rather than in the fragmented and uncoordinated way that characterized clearance in Mozambique.