Why Mindset Shift is key to Next-Gen Goat Production and Value Addition in Zimbabwe

To get the most from the goat value chain we just don't need to change how we do the business, we need disruptive, groundbreaking and radical ideas that will shift the paradigm of how the goat business is done. We should not just think about better goats; instead we should think about how to become better people with better mindsets. According to McKinsey.com (2024) "... mindsets are the belief filters between you and reality. They influence what you perceive, how you feel, and how you behave."

It is not enough to just focus on the familiar when thinking about or doing goat production. Instead, we need to paint outside the edges of the box if we are to unlock the full potential of the goat in Zimbabwe. We need to focus on the bigger, bolder and broader possibilities of next-generation goat production and value addition in Zimbabwe.

Domesticated about 10,000 years ago, there are more than 1000 goat breeds found all over the world today. They come in all sorts of colors and sizes. Can you imagine what we coud do with all these genetics?

Incremental goat production focuses on things like breed, types of goat pens, and how to treat the animals. Do the goats have larger frames? How can we export the meat? Is there a market? The focus is on the features. While there is inherently nothing wrong with trying to breed bigger and fatter goats with greater weights for the market, it's important to exceed our imaginations and go beyond that. Goat production has been practiced for the past 10,000 years, and simply finding new ways of doing the same old production process is selling ourselves short. That's why we need breakthrough, paradigm shifting, transformative and disruptive goat production and value addition ideas.

The real question at hand is how do we develop better mindsets that can generate groundbreaking ideas that will nurture a fertile ground for next generation goat production and value addition. It's not just about importing Boer and Kalahari Red bucks that you cross with indigenous breeds so that you can get better weights. That's so pedestrian, and doing more of the same. It's not just about focusing on breed that balloon faster; it's about identifying and implementing new processes and systems that enhance sustainable goat farming that nourishes the goats themselves, the earth and people.

The central question is: how can we do goat production in the 21st century? We've to face the future boldly. We have to gaze out and discover new ways of doing things. We need big new ideas rooted in regeneration and sustainability. Our indigenous genetics need not play second fiddle. After al, they're a God-given resource that we ought to jealously guard and protect. Pursuit of quick profits in goat production is an old idea.

Change is going to be difficult. However, we must always be on the lookout for transformative ideas that can propel us in the direction of 21st century goat production and value addition. As new goat producers, we must be prepared to challenge the status quo in order to find the transformative gold of our industry.

As we pursue innovation in the goat industry, it's vital that we become comfortable with conditions of extreme uncertainty. We need to continuously reevaluate our purpose and values for being in the goat industry in the first place. Netx generation goat production is not merely about dollar signs. Of course, financial validation is key but more important is the need to give birth to ideas that are regenerative and can be turned into working models.

We need to build new platforms and ecosystems that facilitate a better way of growing goats instead of merely being obsessed by profits. The platforms and ecosystems must focus on what isnt being done. They must tap new opportunities of goat production that have not yet existed in the country.

We need to encourage all the new goat producers to be on the lookout for groundbreaking, transformative, paradigm shifting next generation goat production ideas. We need to build the impossible by stretching our mindsets. Until then, we will just be about bigger breeds instead of unlocking the full potential of the goat. To succeed, we need to ask the right questions, think on their feet and be agile in how we do goat production in the 21st century.