Mueda Plateau

The Mueda Plateau, also known as the Maconde Plateau, is a plateau in Cabo Delgado Province of northeastern Mozambique.

The Mueda Plateau lies between the Ruvuma River on the north, which forms the border with Tanzania, and the Messalo River on the south. It is named for the town of Mueda, the principal town on the plateau.

The western edge of the plateau forms a steep escarpment, dropping to rolling plains. The plateau covers an area of 1715 square kilometers. It is gently undulating and densely wooded, with the trees Pteleopsis myrtifolia and Albizia gummifera predominant.[1]

The Makonde people inhabit the plateau and the adjacent lowlands. The Makonde Plateau, which lies immediately north of the Ruvuma River in Tanzania, is also inhabited by the Makonde. The name 'Makonde' is derived from the typical woodland thickets of the plateau.

The soil is light and sandy but fertile, and the Makonde people on the plateau traditionally practiced a form of swidden agriculture with a three-crop rotation. Trees were cut down to stumps, which provide support for vine crops (beans, pumpkins, and cucumbers) followed by a maize crop, and then millet. At the end of the growing season, the tree stumps were allowed to re-grow for a six- to nine-year fallow period.[1]

The Mueda Plateau is in the Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic ecoregion.

References
  1. Kingdon, Zachary (2013) A Host of Devils: The History and Context of the Making of Makonde Spirit Sculpture. Studies in Visual Culture, Routledge, 2013. ISBN 1136476660, 9781136476662

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