Tendai Rupapa in NYANGA

TRADITIONAL gastronomy cuisine is a key driver for the transformation of economies, community development and a catalyst for cultural branding for socio-economic benefits, First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa has said.

She made the remarks as the guest of honour at the final of Amai’s Traditional Meal Cookout Competition in Nyanga which attracted thousands of people including diplomats, the UN Tourism envoy, Government Ministers and traditional chiefs. The cookout competitions, aimed at promoting gastronomy tourism and the uptake of indigenous dishes, coincided with Africa Day commemorations.

The cookout competition, the brainchild of Dr Mnangagwa, saw winners reaping huge rewards.

Amai Mnangagwa launched the traditional meal cookout competition in 2019 and thereafter, handed over the programme to the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry following its success. The host Ministry on Africa Day invited Dr Mnangagwa, the tourism patron, as the guest of honour for the event.

The mother of the nation expressed delight seeing people resplendent in the national fabric and to add colour to the event, she did a mini-catwalk showcasing her national dress.

To motivate the contestants, Dr Mnangagwa also had a big kitchen where she prepared millet sadza, traditional rice, road runner chicken, rolled goat intestines (zvinyenze), goat stew, a mixture of vegetables and beef commonly known as haifiridzi, tsunga vegetable, dried vegetables in peanut butter and roasted beef.

For snacks, the kitchen offered, roasted groundnuts and roasted pumpkin seeds.

There were also a variety of traditional fruits on display in the kitchen.

The mother of the nation prepared the food with the UN Tourism team comprising Ms Maria Soledad Gaido and Ms Zineb Remmal, the technical coordinators who came to assess the country’s preparedness to host the first-ever Africa gastronomy Forum in Victoria Falls in July.

The food tourism conference will be held in Zimbabwe in recognition of the First Lady’s relentless drive to promote gastronomy or culinary tourism locally and without the country’s borders.

Also in the First Lady’s kitchen were Malawi’s Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule, Ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe, ministers of State, Cabinet Ministers and traditional chiefs’ wives.

Amai Mnangagwa taught the foreign delegates how to prepare Zimbabwean traditional dishes and it was a marvel to watch them preparing sadza, cutting vegetables and cooking a road runner chicken.

They also tasted Zimbabwean beverages – including the famous Seven Days and Mapfura wine.

Chefs from Malawi and Botswana also took part in support of the programme and prepared cuisines from their countries. Amai Mnangagwa and her entourage visited the stands where the 62 contestants displayed their mouth-watering dishes.

They also visited the Malawi and Botswana stands.

“Amai, this is a display of the food which we eat in Malawi. We are not part of the competition but we came in solidarity with our sisters and brothers,” one of the chefs said.

The chef explained how Malawians did not use smooth peanut butter, but how they ground nuts and put them raw in their dishes, including vegetables.

Botswana chefs also gave an insight into their dishes and their health benefits. Amai Mnangagwa and her delegation also toured tables appreciating the Zimbabwean traditional dishes.

The delegates were mesmerised by what they saw and gave a thumbs-up to Zimbabwean chefs.

In her remarks addressing thousands of people, Amai Mnangagwa described yesterday’s finals as a great milestone in promoting heritage-based gastronomy through the cookout competition.

“It is exciting that Zimbabwe has naturally embraced this concept as evidenced by the overwhelming participation at provincial cookout competitions as well as the increased levels of consumption of traditional foods in our country. 

“Traditional gastronomy is our heritage, being a sustainable way of life followed by our forefathers who consumed foods that grew within the confines of our climate. Food was prepared from our abundant animals, herbs and trees occurring naturally in our environment, thereby boosting our immune systems,” she said.

Dr Mnangagwa said it was after noticing the prevalence of contemporary eating habits based on foods that do not grow in the country’s environment, that she felt the need to go back to roots.

“Let us work together as a nation to close the generational gap through preservation of our traditional food and drink. It is with great pleasure that I learnt that the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry’s strategy to develop and promote tourism is hinged on the cluster-based approach.

“Consequently, culture and heritage is one of the identified key clusters. Gastronomy tourism falls within this cluster, thereby making these cookout competitions a key pillar of the culture and heritage cluster,” she said.

The mother of the nation said having realised the importance of traditional foods to the people, she introduced the traditional cookout programme in 2019 as a way of encouraging locals to embrace the concept.

“The programme started as a small event in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West and from there it started growing from strength to strength. 

“Today, I am happy that the programme has grown to a higher level. Last year the programme was further elevated to the level of Sadc region where Zimbabwe successfully hosted the inaugural cookout competitions in Masvingo and eight countries participated namely Botswana, Angola, DRC, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Nigeria and Zimbabwe,” she said.

Zimbabwe’s gastronomy promotion activities, the First Lady said, attracted the attention of the international community and resultantly she was invited to the UNWTO Forum on Gastronomy Tourism in Spain and the UK to share the Zimbabwean experience in promoting traditional cuisine.

Of interest during the events, she said, were the long queues of foreigners requesting to taste madora, harurwa, rupiza, manhuchu, mufushwa wemunyemba and mahewu.

“In addition, there was a high demand for the national fabric to such an extent that we distributed all we had. 

“This is a true reflection that Zimbabwean culture has gone beyond African boundaries through food and dressing. 

“My initiatives to promote local cuisine was honoured by being allowed to host the first-ever UN Tourism Africa Grastronomy showcase in Victoria Falls in July 2024.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase to the whole world who we are as Zimbabweans and Africans. In addition, a total of 100 scholarships were availed to our students in the tourism and hospitality programme to enhance their culinary skills. In recognition of my efforts, UN Tourism has also allowed Zimbabwe to build a UN Tourism Academy for the Sadc region in Victoria Falls,” she said.

Dr Mnangagwa said she has been following closely the rolling out of the 2024 cookout competitions in provinces and was greatly excited that the competitions have grown bigger and better.

“The involvement of students, professional chefs and communities is greatly appreciated. This is the spirit of inclusivity which is in line with the mantra of leaving no one and no place behind. 

“I am glad that the competition has received overwhelming responses from the student fraternity, an indication of the eagerness of our young people to be part of this great initiative, thereby demystifying the notion that the young populace has no regard for traditional cuisines. 

“To this end, I call upon everyone to join us in closing the generational gap through the preservation of our values and norms as we mould our future,” she said.

The First Lady said during her tour of stands, she noticed great talents in coming up with new local dishes and traditional ingredients blended to suit both young and old.

“You demonstrated a high degree of creativity and innovation in all these three categories. Well done to you all. Ladies and gentlemen, the traditional gastronomy cuisine goes beyond preparing food and attracting food enthusiasts, it is a key driver of the transformation of economies, community empowerment and a catalyst for cultural branding for socio-economic benefits. 

“I therefore urge all our contestants to capitalise on the knowledge gained through these competitions to come up with marketable products that can be sold locally and internationally,” she said.

Dr Mnangagwa said it was her wish that the production and promotion of traditional foods was done systemically through value chains from suppliers of ingredients to processors and distributors.

“The idea is to embrace the farm to market concept which we recently launched in Harare.”

Ms Remmal from UN Tourism acknowledged the role played by Dr Mnangagwa in promoting gastronomy tourism.

She acknowledged that yesterday’s event was a success.

“Today we are here present on behalf of UN Tourism Secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili. We witnessed a very successful event that we commend on behalf of the UN Tourism Secretary-General.

“We commend this successful event and see the high level of commitment from the First lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, so this is a privilege for us to be here to witness this leadership on gastronomy bringing together gastronomy and tourism.

“We are very happy to be here today and also to see all the work that is being done and also this is not the first time the First Lady is doing such initiatives because we already had the privilege to attend previous cookout competitions here in Zimbabwe.

“It was an honour to have the First Lady in Spain in San Sabastian bringing together tourism and gastronomy. There is a lot of work that has been done and that is still being done by the First Lady. We look forward to seeing the whole of Africa represented, all international participants in Victoria Falls for the upcoming first ever event in July,” she said.

Malawi Tourism Minister Kamtukule expressed deep appreciation of Dr Mnangagwa and her life-changing programmes.

She said she would replicate Dr Mnangagwa’s initiatives in her motherland.

“I bring you greetings from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Malawi Mr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera who graciously sent me here and remind you of who you are to us as Malawi.

“In 2023, Your Excellency we had the misfortune of experiencing the Cyclone Freddy. It took away the lives of 1000 Malawians Your Excellency and displaced half a million and devastated infrastructure that is now costing us close to a billion dollars to replace. Your Excellency, the Government of Zimbabwe through His Excellency Cde Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa graciously lent us a helping hand. Amai, we shall never forget. So when you sent the invitation, the President said everytime Amai Mnangagwa calls you, you should run and I stand here your Excellency to promise you that every time you call I will run.

“Zimbabwe is not only historic to us. We are true brothers, we are true sisters, we are one and I am very privileged and profoundly honoured to stand before you today. Amai, thank you for the invitation,” she said.

She said she had brought a contingent of Malawian chefs.

“We want you to taste the best of who we are. We are coming here in July again and I welcome you Amai in Malawi because what I have learnt today we are going to replicate this five times over,” she said.

Minister Kamtukule shared the projects they could work on together with her Zimbabwean counterpart.

“Your Excellency in November 2023 for the first time I met with Minister Rwodzi in London for the UNWTO meeting and during our bilateral meeting, we decided Your Excellency that although Zimbabwe and Malawi possess unique tourism features that give us an edge over the others.

“Consumption of these tourism products by tourists who visit our countries is not mutually exclusive. It is therefore our job to interest tourists who visit Malawi to sample out other products in Zimbabwe as well and vice versa because there is a high chance that those tourists that visit our countries may also be willing to come to the other country but also be willing to do repeat visits and that’s why your excellency together with my sister Minister Rwodzi, we decided to collaborate over this competition.

“Amai, as a hardcore Pan African myself I believe that Africa would not have developed if one or more nations within it were left behind and I want to ride on what you have started your Excellency where you are not leaving anyone behind.

“You have brought in Chiefs and their wives, these are the custodians of our culture and what I have seen here with the richness of our food and the diversity of our culture there should not be any malnourished child in Zimbabwe or Malawi.

“And there is no malnourishment in our countries and there shouldn’t be anyone not finishing school. Africa should never be poor if we are rich in culture like we have seen today. We must come together as a region to push each other forward because if one of us is remaining behind all of us are in trouble.

“We may have effective tourism strategies or development strategies for our countries but the effectiveness of tourism development strategies is not dependent on the availability of financial technical resources but is largely dependent on a Government’s commitment towards a sector.

“Therefore, I want to applaud you your Excellency that Zimbabwe does not only have political will, but is anchored because the first woman of the land is at the forefront. Well done your Excellency. You are the tourism champion.

“Your Excellency, we have heard the winners narrating how their lives have changed because of the cookouts, because of the competitions, you are changing lives.

“You are changing the future of this country but at the same time you are changing the future of Africa and that is why we will visibly support you in everything that you do this has also been cemented by the United Nations which has chosen you as a tourism ambassador and allow me to express my profound congratulations to you your excellency for the work that you have done. I have already started learning from you. Everything that you do always remember that someone is watching.

You have led the path well Amai,” she said to applause.

Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi said President Mnangagwa has been on record preaching about how he wants the country to become a middle-income society by 2030 where he says that an empowered society is able to grow its own crops.

“Growing your own crops, rearing your own livestock and processing these into food products based on what we can grow in our country and in our climate. He is simply saying we can get to 2030 without a poor person in our nation because of God-given endowments.

“They may be minerals we dig from underground, our food that we produce through farming our tourism that you showed our country. You actually thought you were doing this for Zimbabwe alone Your Excellency, but we did not know that other people in the world and the continent were watching how you as the First Lady, have understood what the President wants to achieve by 2030 in the context of tourism.

“You walked and today you continue walking, leaving no one and no place behind in the country. Manicaland is grateful not because you are here today, but because of programmes that you are rolling out from time to time in remote parts of the province. Today you are in Nyanga and are leaving no one and no place behind. The uniqueness of our products, particularly the food starting from the climate that we have is our pride. 

“This is what you started your Excellency in 2019 and we did not know what you were doing as you moved with wives of chiefs. It started small and today people are here to celebrate this big event. The Second Republic, through our President, is challenging us as leaders to come up with strategies and we are proud of that. I wish to congratulate all the 62 contestants. For the past five years, we were having only 20 of them but you have multiplied them enshrining the students and the chefs because of the value chain within gastronomy tourism. We thank you for your guidance. Stay with us and our mother is saying to all of us play your part,” she said.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira paid tribute to the First Lady for her interventions.

“What I want to humbly share today is about humanity, it’s about a people, it’s about perpetuity of humanity and the pillars of the perpetuity of humanity in the state. What makes a country to be there and persist for long? It is food and food production systems. Food and food production systems are the basis of the existence of humanity because we are food ourselves, lest we forget. That is why lions consume us. For us to be able to produce enough food and process enough food, we have to understand the environment where we are living. 

“This takes me to a point where we talk about the anatomy of defeat. What happens when a people are defeated? First of all, the first activity is to remove them as far away as possible from the food that easily grows in their environment so that they are hungry. Hungry people are easy to dominate. This is the process of colonisation. It starts by removing people from their food, from their belief systems so that they doubt whether they are okay. That doubt can be perpetuated over centuries and for Africa, it’s over 600 years. Unfortunately, you begin to have people who believe that and that’s the beginning of trouble. 

“The basis of the assured existence and the existence of humanity of a people is food production and food production systems. God created a nation saying Munondo trees grow in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. He said the apple tree will grow in Canada and that apples will grow in Kazakhstan. Nature is not an accident, it has laws that are understood and now matamba and mapfura are here. They are neither watered nor fumigated. The moment you water and fumigate trees you are arguing. That is being argumentative and it doesn’t end well especially when arguing with God. He said this is a baobab tree but you argued and wanted to water it so you will die of hunger. Different environments give different opportunities so I have been able to give an example of what colonization is. We are just told sorghum is bad, millet is bad, rapoko is bad even though your totem says otherwise. If you say A for apple instead of Amarula, it’s a sign of defeat.

“This is therefore the reason why His Excellency the President of this republic Dr ED Mnangagwa said we must sharpen our knowledge systems so that we sharpen our minds and understand our heritage as to how our trees are like. How are our animals and soil. This is because that is where we get our food and livelihoods. No country lives of food that comes with ships, therefore our heritage is our means of survival. Our heritage is our place of power. Our heritage is the place of the existence of a nation, our heritage is our crops, our traditional crops, our rapoko, our millet, our sorghum. That is our food. Our soil, our water, our minerals,” he said.

Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza showered praises on the First Lady for her empowerment programmes.

“Indeed you have made us proud. Your Excellency, today is a very memorable and momentous day for Manicaland Province coming on the heels of the successful hosting of the 44th national independence celebrations in Buhera. We are both excited and humbled as Manicaland that once again we have been privileged to host this high-profile event here in Nyanga. On behalf of the people of Manicaland, I therefore want to express our uttermost appreciation to the national cookout patron the First Lady of our nation for approving that this national event be held here. We are very humbled by this decision Amai. Let me also humbly acknowledge and salute the First Lady for coming up with the cookout initiative and for nurturing it from a modest event that initially took on board only chiefs spouses to the current massive international competition now it is,” she said.

Adv Mugadza said the presence of foreign dignitaries attested to the huge appeal of the First Lady’s initiative.

“We have dignitaries from all over SADC, from the United Nations. By so doing Amai you have demonstrated that as a nation we can achieve anything we want when we are focused and dedicated. Thank you very much our mother for showing us the way and inspiring the whole nation to do our best in the service of our beloved nation. I am proud to advise that Manicaland is richly endowed with beautiful and pristine tourism attractions that are scattered throughout our seven districts. The hosting of this year’s cookout competition has therefore presented an excellent opportunity for us to showcase some of Manicaland’s unique non-consumptive tourist attractions. All our guests are therefore urged to sample some of our numerous tourist sites. The Nyanga mountains, Mutarazi Falls, Nyachowa Falls in Vumba and the Big Tree in Mt Selinda,” he said. 

Janet Matika from Belvedere teachers college came out tops in the students category and was presented with a laptop, four plate gas stove and gas tank, US$1 500 cash and a Holiday in Nyanga. 

The Community category was won by Mrs Buhlewenkosi Nkala from Matabeleland South Province who walked away with a four-plate gas stove, gas tank, US$2 500 cash and holiday voucher.

The professional chefs category was won by Colleen Ngorima from Holiday Inn Harare who received US$3 000 cash, a four-plate gas stove, gas tank and a holiday voucher. The winners also received trophies that are in the shape of a three-legged pot.

All contestants received food hampers and maize seed courtesy of Dr Mnangagwa. – Herald