City of Masvingo (Urban-Agriculture) By-laws, 2025

These by-laws govern urban agriculture in the City of Masvingo, covering how they interact with the council's other by-laws, the allocation of land for urban farming, environmental protection and management, and penalties.

A permit is required to farm within the urban area and to erect any structure on the allocated land. Crop residues must be removed after harvesting, and no agricultural residue may be burned without permission from the council, EMA and the Forestry Commission.

Cultivators must ensure that chemicals and fertilisers do not pollute underground or surface water sources — dams, rivers, wells, aquifers and others — or damage soils, grass, trees and other vegetation, and must keep cultivation at least 30 metres from the banks of any naturally defined stream or river, wetland, aquifer or watercourse.

Beyond any fine, a person who causes pollution or environmental degradation must meet the cost of remedying it and any resulting adverse health effects, and of preventing or minimising further damage.

Fees are US$5 to apply for a farming permit and US$20 for the permit itself, and US$10 to apply for a structure permit with the permit charged at US$2,50 per square metre. Every listed offence carries US$20 — farming without a permit, growing unpermitted crops, causing environmental damage, erecting a structure without a permit, failing to remove crop residue and burning residue without a permit.