This essay tells the story of an important area in the fertile Limpopo valley in southern Mozambique. It documents for the first time the rise and the fall of a major Portuguese settlement venture in Africa, and it pursues the story through the state farm epoch. In 1983, the agricultural development strategy changed, and land begun to be distributed to the peasants. This essay terminates by describing this latest phase, highlighting the strong differentiating effects and the class formation that is taking place in the area.