Zambia was offering the first leases on government land to foreign and local farmers, including some from Libya and Zimbabwe, as it tried to diversify the economy, lands minister Judith Kapijimpanga said. An area of 100 000ha in central Zambia would be ready for occupation this year, once roads were constructed and power provided. The land is the first to be put up for lease under a government policy to establish farms in all nine provinces of Zambia, which has faced severe food shortages in the past.