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George Maponga in Masvingo
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi has challenged Zimbabweans to fully exploit the country’s vast potential in gastronomy tourism which is anchored on the nation’s rich heritage and culture if the Vision 2030 target of making Zimbabwe an upper middle income society is to be quickly achieved.
Minister Rwodzi said the exploitation of opportunities in the gastronomy tourism value chain had potential to engender socio-economic transformation in Zimbabwe through uplifting standards of the rural populace and also creating employment which dovetailed with the Second Republic’s philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind.
Speaking yesterday at Amai’s Traditional Provincial Cook-out Competition at Masvingo Polytechnic Minister Rwodzi expressed optimism that gastronomy tourism could add spark in the ongoing efforts to grow the country’s tourism sector as one of the key anchors of the national economy.
The cook-out competition is held in all provinces and is spearheaded by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is the country’s tourism patron.
Yesterday’s competition featured professional chefs from hotels and tertiary institutions around Masvingo province who competed in two groups.
The two top winners in each group automatically qualified for Amai’s traditional national cook-out competition scheduled for Mutare at the end of this month. Minister Rwodzi said the local gastronomy tourism sector had a lot of potential for growth and expansion, in the process helping the nation to achieve its Vision 2030 targets.
“The gastronomy tourism value chain has potential to lift our economy which is in sync with the vision of our President Mnangagwa of making Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy.
“There are a lot of opportunities that can be exploited in the gastronomy value chain with the net effect of influencing rural development and employment creation.
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi greets one of the contestants during Amai’s Cookout Competition at Masvingo Polytechnic yesterday. Accompanying her are the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira (second from left) and Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira (third from left).
“The most important thing that we have as a country is our culture and heritage, we have our traditional food which is not only unique to Zimbabwe and a symbol of national pride, but should also be the anchor of our drive to make sure Zimbabwe accrues benefits from gastronomy tourism,” she said.
“I am happy that as a country we are beginning to stake a claim in gastronomy tourism using indigenous raw materials to make things like wine which can be promoted as unique and truly Zimbabwean brands that can even attract visitors to our country.
“Our strength as a nation should lie in our ability to promote our traditional foods and make them anchors of our gastronomy tourism because tourists will always be tempted to come to Zimbabwe for a taste of that unique Zimbabwean experience that can also be sampled through our local food.”
The Cabinet minister paid tribute to the First Lady, Amai Mnangagwa, saying she was now a world-acclaimed visionary for her relentless promotion of healthy indigenous foods that have propelled gastronomy tourism on the map.
“I want to pay homage to the First Lady our Amai who is also our Tourism patron for her vision because when she started gastronomy tourism through the promotion of local dishes and indigenous foods, not many people took her seriously, but she had a vision and that vision is now bearing fruits for our nation because from 26 to 28 July this year Zimbabwe will host the first-ever United Nations Africa gastronomy forum to be held in Victoria Falls.”
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The First Lady was the face of Zimbabwe’s gastronomy tourism having introduced traditional cook-out competitions since 2020.
Minister Rwodzi said her ministry had selected the First Lady as their tourism patron on merit as the country’s tourism patron had university degree in tourism from Switzerland and a Masters Degree from the Midlands State University.
“The First Lady’s designation as a African gastronomy champion also saw United Nations Tourism granting 100 scholarships to 100 Zimbabwean students to study online and these scholarships were in recognition of her dedication and ingenuity in influencing the growth of gastronomy tourism in Zimbabwe.”
Speaking at the same event the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira also hailed the First Lady as a proponent of social transformation in Zimbabwe and beyond through her promotion of gastronomy tourism.
Prof Murwira noted that the country’s heritage-based education 5.0 thrust was anchored on the need to exploit and harness God-given natural endowments and innovate around them in the quest for survival.
He said the promotion of traditional foods would help the country achieve food sovereignty saying Zimbabwe was supposed to anchor its thrust to fight hunger on the production of traditional grains that were suitable in climatic conditions found in this part of the world.
“Survival becomes a serious challenge if we wish to consume what we don’t produce as a nation and instead wish for what is produced by others.
“We should bank on what we can produce, that is our heritage bequeathed to us by our forefathers and that is the basis of heritage-based education 5.0 which requires that we effect innovation around what we have, we can value add what we have and even use it to trade and get the other things that we need but don’t have,” said Prof Murwira.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira also paid tribute to First Lady Dr Mnangagwa saying her drive to develop gastronomy tourism had put Masvingo on course to meet its Vision 2030 goals.
He said tourism was one of the key anchors of the province’s drive to become a US$8 billion economy by 2030.
Participants at yesterday’s Amai’s traditional cook-out out competition were given prizes that included food hampers after showcasing their culinary skills, making items like fruit juices, cakes and dishes using traditional foods and fruits.
Online Reporter