This paper studies the case of the district of Ribáuè, in Northern Mozambique, to analyse the components of (under)development in the district. By analysing the different factors that influence the possibilities for growth, the paper assesses the importance of economic/social aspects and that of culture, setting a differentiation between administration-based hindrances and culture-based obstacles, and affirming that the gap between institutions and population can be fixed through the establishment of strong and trained associations of farmers. Taking a hermeneutic approach and with the help of the Deprivation Trap, theories on culture and development and the Alternative Development, the paper argues that issues like the access to credit and inputs have an influence much stronger than that of the resistance to change from the farmers, and that several beneficial components of culture could be exploited to produce adequate development. The text concludes with a recommendation for a change in the view upon development in Mozambique, arguing that there is a need for an integrative form of development that would bring farmers closer to the institutions and that would allow Mozambique to recover the control of its strategy.