Zim government charges new farmers rent

Government plans to widen its revenue base by charging the 300,000 land reform beneficiaries rent for their farms, Lands Minister Douglas Mombeshora has said.

Mombeshora told a gathering of captains of industry at a Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce annual congress in Victoria Falls on Thursday that an annual rental per farmer had been endorsed by the ruling Zanu PF party and was awaiting Cabinet approval.

"We are targeting those on A1 and A2 plots, plantations and small scale land owners and will have to pay the proposed annual amount per hectare. We have made our proposal that A1 farmers pay $10 per annum while others pay $3 per hectare per year."