Invertebrate gleaning within seagrass meadows is a common activity across eastern African communities that depend on fisheries for their livelihoods. Based on a case study of two contrasting sites, Maputo Bay (MB) and Inhambane Bay (IB), this study documents, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the gleaning activity, its value chain and stakeholders, paying particular attention to the recently created Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) within IB, boasting creativity in seagrass invertebrate fishery management. Twenty-four common edible species were identified for MB, and 15 for IB; nearly all gleaners were women and children. Our estimates indicate that about 7.7 and 7.6 tons of invertebrates are collected in the peak catch weeks (spring low tides) in MB and IB, respectively. Resources are caught and sold at local markets, food fairs (for IB only), and restaurants, as well as for direct household consumption. One thousand one hundred and seventy two (1172) hectares of LMMAs (corresponding to nearly 0.05 of IB) of fisheries management, together with existing community and other stakeholder engagement and intervention on value chains, are at the center of tangible invertebrate fishery management.

As sustainability scientists increasingly put forward the relevance of process‐relational approaches to make sense of social‐ecological phenomena, an inquiry on which methods would fit a process‐relational approach is necessary. This paper discusses how a process‐relational approach can be applied to traditional qualitative research methods, namely interviews and coding and the tensions associated with it. Process‐relational perspectives share commonalities with interpretative approaches but also present specific characteristics, such as the importance of material aspects and the understanding of the phenomenon as a moment in which different elements become defined respective to each other. The paper uses data and researchers' experiences from an action research project seeking to support collective action among coastal communities affected by environmental changes in Kenya and Mozambique. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Chronic shortages of resources to run the state have been a feature of Mozambique since the colonial period. Even before the adoption of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) in the late 1980s, conditions were austere due to the effects of Portuguese colonialism, a decade of liberation struggle, prolonged civil war and policy mistakes following independence in 1975. Drawing from archival research and oral accounts, this article analyses the impact of the liberalization of higher education in Mozambique. It explores the strategies adopted by intellectuals and academics to navigate reduced state support and donor conditionalities accompanying austerity measures from the late 1980s. It also highlights the paradoxical effects of austerity measures on fundraising, intellectual production, and the expansion of educational institutions. Austerity measures brought about by SAPs have forced universities and faculty to reinvent themselves by commercializing and privatizing higher education and seeking external funding for research. At the same time, scholars are now intellectually freer but more dependent on donors’ research agendas. Finally, the introduction of privately owned higher education institutions and the marketization of public institutions have increased divisions between the elites and the majority of Mozambicans who cannot afford to pay the fees charged. Résumé Depuis la période coloniale, le Mozambique est marqué par un manque chronique de ressources pour diriger le pays. Même avant l'adoption des programmes d'ajustement structurel (PAS) à la fin des années 1980, les conditions étaient austères du fait des effets du colonialisme portugais, d'une décennie de lutte de libération, d'une guerre civile persistante et d'erreurs dans l’élaboration des politiques après l'indépendance en 1975. S'appuyant sur la recherche archivistique et des récits oraux, cet article analyse l'impact de la libéralisation de l'enseignement supérieur au Mozambique. Il explore les stratégies adoptées par les intellectuels et les universitaires face au soutien réduit de l’État et aux conditionnalités des bailleurs de fonds qui ont accompagné les mesures d'austérité dès la fin des années 1980. Il souligne aussi les effets paradoxaux des mesures d'austérité sur la collecte de fonds, la production intellectuelle et le développement des institutions d'enseignement. Les mesures d'austérité résultant des PAS ont forcé les universités et les professeurs à se réinventer en commercialisant et en privatisant l'enseignement supérieur, et en recherchant des fonds extérieurs pour financer la recherche. En même temps, les universitaires sont aujourd'hui plus libres intellectuellement, mais plus dépendants des priorités de recherche des bailleurs de fonds. Enfin, l'introduction d'institutions d'enseignement supérieur privées et la commercialisation des établissements publics ont creusé les divisions entre les élites et la majorité des Mozambicains qui n'ont pas les moyens de payer les frais demandés.