Plumtree Town (Urban Agriculture) By-laws, 2025

These by-laws govern urban agriculture in the Plumtree Town area, covering the allocation of land, environmental protection and management, and penalties. "Deserving residents" — including people living with HIV and AIDS and orphaned and vulnerable children — are among those the council may allocate land to.

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 agricultural residue may not 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 — dams, rivers, wells, aquifers and other sources — or damage soils, grass, trees and other vegetation, and must keep cultivation at least 30 metres away from the banks of any naturally defined stream or river, wetland, aquifer or natural watercourse.

Beyond any penalty, 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.

As published, every fee and penalty is printed as US$0,00 — the permit to farm, the permit to erect structures, and the fines for farming without a permit, growing unpermitted crops, causing environmental damage, erecting a structure without a permit, failing to remove crop residue and burning residue. The City of Masvingo's equivalent by-laws of the same day charge US$20 for a farming permit and US$20 penalties.