CHIPINGE Some resettled farmers here have devised a quicker way of making money than farming renting out their pieces of land to other landless villagers for a fee.In some cases, those who are landless but cannot afford the rental fees are asked to pay with their labour. The local Chief Gwenzi criticised the practice that he amounted to exploitation of landless people by their fellow villagers. He said: “It is very sad to note that the people are being made to pay to stay on the farms. We are not happy with what is happening in these small-scale farming areas . these farmers are making a killing from their farms, he said.
A villager, Patrick Mafios, who is paying 100 rands for a portion of the farm where he is staying said: “I am landless so I do not have any option. We live in squalid conditions because we are not allowed to build decent houses. The administrator for Manicaland Province under which Chipinge falls, Fungai Mbetsa, said he was unaware of that villagers were renting out land to each other but promised to investigate the matter.