By Rex Mphisa
AT 26, and a graduate of one of the state universities in Zimbabwe, Maria Mdau (not her real name) spends her time at home, self-employed.
Her International Relations degree has not secured her employment, just like hundreds of all other Zimbabwean youthful graduates in the countryside and cities.
Maria used some of her savings to buy 200 day-old-chicks she took in batches of 50 per fortnight and has for the last two years been doing that project, growing it to 100 birds per fortnight.
After six weeks of each batch, she starts selling the birds keeping kept herself afloat and she calls herself a “degreed chicken farmer”.
“I am beginning to love this game. I want to expand, I want to diversify to goats and piggery projects, I want to employ some people because I am quite aware the load will be heavy with expansion,” she said.
Her savings have grown, but not without challenges. In the beginning she lost many chicks until her parents helped her with mature skills from years of experience.
She did not lose a single bird in her last six batches of the project now spanning two years.
“I smile at myself, I do not have a lot of time with other girls, it bores me but I want to be independent. My boyfriend believes I am too hooked to chickens,” she says.
With the market flooded by other chicken farmers, Maria’s challenge lies in marketing and finding new customers.
She also faces a decline in the demand of her broiler birds as people prefer the rural fre-ranger chicken that takes long to mature.
“Thats the hassle of my hustle,” she said at the sidelines of a one day workshop by Tshilidzi Development Trust (TDT), an indigenous Non Governmental Organisation.
Close to 100 youths from the border town converged for the workshop that also attracted Matabeleland South Minister of Provincial Affairs and Devolution Albert Nguluvhe, Youth Member of Parliament for Matabeleland South Tinashe Mushipe and several government officials from the Ministries of Youths and Women’s Affairs.
“I hope the new ideas here will be able to unlock new horizons for me. I want to be international,” said Maria.
A director of TDT Jannet Taruvinga said theirs is a youth-led, community-anchored organisation working in Beitbridge and dedicated to addressing chronic poverty, exclusion and underdevelopment through youth and women empowerment, climate resilience and economic inclusion.
Officially welcoming delegates to the workshop Taruvinga said one of the objectives of TDT was to create direct links between young manufacturers, farmers and miners with the larger regional market, which sat well with Maria’s dream
“On behalf of TSHILIDZI, I welcome you to this landmark summit. We are gathered here at the gateway to the North, a town of immense strategic importance, not just to witness a meeting, but to ignite a movement. This summit is a direct response to the call for youth-led economic transformation,” said Taruvinga.
She said mission to unpack their “Beitbridge Youth Economic Compendium” blueprint for transition was starting and sought to turn hustling into formal industries.
“The objective of this summit is clear and urgent: Formalisation. We are here to bridge the gap between “hustling” and “entrepreneurship.” By the end of our time together, our goal is to ensure that youth-led social enterprises are no longer just ideas, but registered, compliant and bankable economic entities,” she said.
She said many youths failed to access youth empowerment fund because they were not registered companies or groups.
The Zimbabwe government provides funding and resources to youth groups and individuals, primarily through the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme, launched in March 2025.
This includes a US$2 million revolving fund for income-generating projects, a US$5 million mining equipment scheme, and support from the Youth Empower Bank, targeting youth entrepreneurship and development.
Taruvinga said access to such funding starts with formalisation to simplify regulatory hurdles and to ensure that the youth are the primary beneficiaries of the economic corridors we live within.
She said the objectives of their summit last Saturday were to educate on the strategic alignment of youth enterprises with national development goals and the Devolution Agenda, providing practical tools for governance, financial management and business scaling, creating direct links between young manufacturers, farmers and miners with the larger regional markets and strengthening alliance, ensuring that when the youth speak as a collective group they become too significant to be ignored.
Taruvinga said youths must seize the moment and move from the periphery to the mainstream of economic activities.
She asked economic stakeholders to invest in the youth who are future drivers of the country’s businesses and enterprises.
“To our young delegates: this is your moment to move from the periphery to the centre of the economy. To our stakeholders: we thank you for recognising that investing in youth is not an act of charity, but a strategic economic imperative. Let us use these sessions to build, to challenge and to create a legacy that outlives this summit,” she said.
Looking at the current situation in the Middle East and world over, food production could be Zimbabwe and the region’s gateway to economic boom.
Hostilities in the middle East will certainly open many markets with nations desperate to rebuild what the war has destroyed including food reserves.
With Iran now targeting water plants, even bottled water will have markets across the Middle Rast and Europe.
In his official address Nguluvhe said his office will collaborate with the Municipality of Beitbridge to identify and designate land for the establishment of a Youth Business Incubation Hub, as proposed in TDT Compendium.
“This hub will serve as a center for innovation, mentorship, and enterprise growth.3. Recognition of the Beitbridge Youth Economic Bloc I am pleased to officially recognize the Beitbridge Youth Economic Bloc. From today onward, this Bloc will serve as a primary consultative partner in all provincial development initiatives affecting Beitbridge. Your voice will not only be heard it will help shape policy and implementation. My office will convene a follow-up engagement with the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry of SMEs,” he said.
He asked TDT to review the registration progress of youth- and women-led enterprises identified by Beitbridge entrepreneurs-both those presen and those who failed to attend to facilitate their businesses.
He said businesses established in Beitbridge should transforrm the border post town from a transit point to a business hub.
“The border that defines this town must not be seen as an escape route-it must be embraced as an opportunity. Let us build a Beitbridge where trucks do not simply pass through,” he said.