EVENTS that have taken place in the past months are not just exciting but tell a very important and encouraging story.
Far from the spotlight are events that are shaping our economy.
In the news are stories about earnings from tobacco, growing demand for local horticultural products on the international market, developments in the mining sector and innovations by our university students that point to a nation that is not sitting on its laurels.
Our country is richly endowed and we have one of the best human resource base in the world.
The students who are coming up with innovations in areas of engineering inspire us.
With such students, our future is secure. They are delivering homegrown solutions which are crucial to sustainable development. We will not be held to ransom by the so-called developed nations.
Just like the Asian tigers, our growth and success must be steeped in our people.
We have repeated time and again that taking control of our discourse, shaping our national agenda and getting our story to the rest of the world is entirely dependent on us and not outsiders.
What our students, our farmers and miners are doing is evidence that we are not waiting for outsiders but shaping our destiny.
These life changing actions are bold initiatives stemming from a rich cultural heritage.
All these developments show what we are capable of and the importance of remaining united in our quest to transform the fortunes of our nation.
The world wants what we have, down to our bananas, and it is engaging us on our terms and this should remain so in all arenas.
Nothing can stand in the way or stop a people determined to shape their destiny.
As the West makes unjustified noises about us and maneuvers to destabilise our beautiful country, we have relentlessly remained focused and our efforts are beginning to bear fruits.
Industries are calling for more raw materials to increase their capacity utilisation.
Some are even contracting farmers to produce the required raw materials.
The appetite for growth among the so-called small-players in business and farming is huge.
The successes we are recording are as a result of our refusal to compromise or mortgage our country.
Our agricultural sector is the mainstay of our economy and makes us a force to reckon with on the continent.
And steadily we are working towards regaining the breadbasket status.
The agricultural reform we are presently engaged in is bearing positive results.
A thriving agricultural sector, will eradicate many of the challenges we are currently facing.
No nation will bully us when we achieve food security.
It will be a fallacy to talk of power that is not backed by food security.
A hungry nation, dependent on aid, cannot defend its people and protect its resources.
With a thriving agricultural sector everything else will fall into place.
For centuries, as a continent we have been pillaged and plundered, selling ourselves for a pittance to avert things like hunger yet we have the most fertile lands in the world.
It is this need for independence in all arenas, that must compel us to work harder so that we are never compromised.
Our agricultural sector will be our shield and fortress.