By Chiyedzo Josiah Dimbo Ambassador of Hope
“If you desire peace, cultivate justice, but at the same time cultivate the fields to produce the fruit that will nourish peace.” — Norman Borlaug
THE CONTEXT: 31 JULY AND THE CALL FROM THE WOMEN’S LEAGUE
On 31 July, some groups are mobilising Zimbabweans to protest against Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3).
Yet, addressing the ZANU PF Women’s League at the Party Headquarters, His Excellency Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered a directive as clear as a mother-to-nationfather-to-nation call: Make money, not noise.
This is no dismissal of democratic voices. It is a clarion call to prioritise. While others choose placards, the President beckons women and youth to choose ploughs. While others chant slogans, the government invests in silos, abattoirs, greenhouses, and export contracts.
The choice could not be starker: protest the economy or power the economy.
With ZAS 116 set for 24–29 August 2026 and the Zimbabwe Livestock Conference on 5 August 2026, the nation stands at a fork in the road. The Women’s League has always been the backbone of production. The President has chosen. Will Zimbabweans answer?
THE $15.8BN COVENANT: PRODUCTION IS THE REAL PROTEST
The target is set: a $15.8 billion agricultural economy by 2030. This is not a government slogan — it is a jobs plan for our daughters, a forex plan for our households, and a dignity plan for our communities.
Consider the numbers: Livestock alone contributes over 40% of agricultural GDP and employs 60% of rural households. Yet the opportunity is far larger, and women are at its centre.
According to ZimStat, women comprise 65% of smallholder farmers yet access less than 10% of agricultural credit — a gap that, if closed, could unlock billions more. Youth unemployment hovers above 60% , making production not just an economic choice but a survival imperative.
Here is where our women and youth must make money, not noise — right now:
– Livestock & Agro-processing: 5.4 million cattle, 4.5 million goats. This is where we must remember a glorious chapter in our national story. In the heyday of Zimbabwe’s beef exports, the nation rang with a proud proclamation: “Samson Nyama Inonaka Inotaura Yega” — Samson meat is so delicious, it speaks for itself. That slogan, born in the era when Cold Storage Company (CSC) slaughtered for the world, was not mere advertising; it was a statement of quality, of value addition, of a nation feeding the world. Today, the opportunity is “SAMSON 2.0” — traceable beef, leather value addition like Ethiopia’s $120 million industry, dairy processing, and milk collection. Protest unemployment by owning a feedlot or dairy cooperative — let the meat speak again.
• Horticulture: Global demand for avocados, macadamias, citrus, and berries. Zimbabwe’s climate is a goldmine. Protest poverty by exporting from your orchard to Dubai and the EU.
• Apiculture: A $50 million industry waiting. From 10 hives to 1,000 hives — honey, wax, propolis. Low capital, climate-smart, women-led. Protest forex shortages by earning export dollars from the backyard.
• Fish Farming: National fish deficit remains. Tilapia and catfish in dams, tanks, and backyard ponds. Protest food insecurity by filling supermarket shelves.
• Floriculture: We once earned $60 million from flowers. The EU market is still open. Protest joblessness by employing 20 women in a greenhouse.
• Value Addition: This is where noise dies and money is born. Mango to juice. Soy to stockfeed. Milk to cheese. Hides to handbags. Protest raw exports by building factories in our districts. Production and value addition — that is the twin engine of industrialisation.
ZAS 116: THE MARKETPLACE, NOT THE PODIUM
From 24–29 August, under the theme “Powering Growth: Where Agriculture, Technology and Commerce Converge,” ZAS 116 must answer the President’s call to the Women’s League. This can not be a show of big bulls only. It must be a signing floor for women and youth.
ZAS 116 must deliver:
• Women & Youth Agripreneur Bootcamps: Practical skills in fattening, beekeeping, fish feed, floriculture, export compliance, and agro-processing.
• Finance Desk: Women-dedicated and youth-dedicated windows with AFC, banks, and private equity. Bring your ZAS exhibit, not just a CV.
– Digital Marketplace: Link a woman goat farmer in Murehwa to a buyer in Dubai. Link a women’s group fish farm in Nyanga to a hotel in Harare — like Kenya’s DigiCow.
– Mentorship Pavilion: Every young woman exhibitor paired with experienced commercial farmers, agribusiness leaders, and exporters. Mentorship programmes are key for growth, skills transfer, and market access.
Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo — a nation is built by its own people. And the Women’s League has always led in building.
FROM “SAMSON” TO STARTUPS: THE MINDSET THE PRESIDENT WANTS
In the 1990s, the Cold Storage Company employed 60,000 people. Back then, “Samson Nyama Inonaka Inotaura Yega” was not just a brand — it was a promise of quality, of jobs, of a nation proud of its beef. We lost that promise. We can not lose this generation to endless debate.
Imagine:
– A Women’s League group in Marondera with 200 beehives exporting honey. That is forex.
– A young mother in Norton with solar fish ponds. That is protein security and school fees.
– 10 women in Chipinge with 5 hectares of avocados. That is export earnings.
– A women’s cooperative in Bulawayo turning goat skin into handbags. That is value addition and dignity.
These are not fantasies. These are the businesses that answer 31 July with productivity — businesses that whisper, like Samson once did, “Inonaka inotaura yega.” Production and value addition — the only path to true industrialisation.
AMBASSADOR OF HOPE PERSPECTIVE: THE ANTIDOTE TO NOISE IS WORK
A hive is not just bees. It is school fees. It is forex. It is peace in the village.
A fish pond is not just water. It is jobs. It is nutrition. It is stability.
A hectare of flowers is not just beauty. It is air-freight dollars. It is women empowered.
An abattoir is not just slaughter. It is EU market access. It is dignity restored.
The President has set the tone to the Women’s League, and to all Zimbabweans: Make money, not noise.
The policy is set: Vision 2030.
The markets are waiting: EU, Middle East, SADC.
The land is here. Our women are here. Our youth are here. The tools are here.
What remains is work.
Let’s leave the noise to the commentators.
Let’s leave the protests for those with no plan.
Let the women and our youth get to work and build the $15.8 billion economy.
At ZAS 116, let us not count attendance.
Let us count contracts signed by women and youth.
Let us count factories commissioned.
Let us count young women millionaires created.
From Cold Storage to Cold Chain. From beef-only to diversified agriculture. From talk to tonnage. From protest to production. From raw exports to value addition — that is industrialisation. And let the quality of our work, like Samson’s meat, speak for itself once more.
The directive is clear: Make money, not noise.
Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.