Agric Show a success, but . . .

nine days.
The Zimbabwe Agricultural Society said instead of the usual one week, this time around they wanted to accommodate the working class who normally failed to attend the event because of work commitments, hence the extra two days.
There were 1 000 exhibitors who included foreigners from regional and international destinations. There were 350 farmers up from 266 last time. Last year there were 750 exhibitors in total.
More than 70 000 people passed through the gates on the last day of the premier event while about 150 000 were recorded for the entire show.
Of the total, about 80 000 were children with the mathematics being that a parent or parents have brought their children.
Last year the show in its week-long duration attracted 130 000 people, a number ZAS had used this year for their estimates. Also, 56 000 people entered the show on the last day last year, 14 000 shy of this year’s 70 000.
According to ZAS’s assessment, the show was a resounding success and demonstrated that the economy was also on a rebound.
ZAS public relations manager Mrs Sibonginkosi Muteyiwa even confirmed it saying the event had successfully managed to create a platform for industry and all key stakeholders to meet and talk business.
Even the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made, commended ZAS for a job well done but was also quick to point out that the show organisers had underestimated the people’s interest in the event.
Some people, mostly children, could not make it into the Exhibition Park because of the sheer numbers.
But while the numbers have grown this year, what is worrisome is that the majority of the people who thronged the event were children – literally coming for the fun of the occasion and not business.
Suffice to say therefore that the event could have easily slipped from an important business platform to a basically social outing for the kids and a few adults.
The key reason for the slack attendance by adults is probably the gate charges of US$5 per day ZAS was charging.
And most of the children who failed to gain entry on the final day were unaccompanied, something that may confirm that adults had shied away because of the gate charges so they ended up sending kids on their own who unfortunately could not make it to witness the action.
By charging US$5 per day for adults, ZAS seems to have been saying the event was for children whom they charged US$1 per day so adults were actually the guests attending a children’s event.
ZAS has this time around gone the extra mile to spice the event by bringing renowned musicians such as Kapfupi, Sulumani Chimbetu, Tongai Moyo and superstar Oliver Mtukudzi to entertain the people.
This alone could have been enough carrot to lure fun lovers and even business people to the show but the gate charges were not just user friendly.
We have seen people boycotting soccer matches and even music concerts when there are charges similar to ZAS’s saying they are unaffordable yet in most cases these are just one-day events.
And for someone to fork out US$5 daily under the current macro-economic environment, it becomes difficult.
It was common throughout the show to see an adult with a horde of children who in actual fact do not understand the purpose of the event save for the fun it comes with.
Adults are the ones who exhibit and do business transactions so to keep them out by charging US$5 daily was literally a disservice to exhibitors.
Those exhibiting did not get the potential value of their money. Of course, there was brisk business for children’s face painters and vendors of ice creams and toys to name just a few but real business that drives the economy was sacrificed.
If ZAS really wanted to promote business there was nothing bad in charging US$1 for adults while kids would have settled for US$0,50 or even less.
They would still have collected some cash from exhibitors to upset the costs of running the event, which are understood to be in the region of a million.
After paying for stands and using a lot of money to set up exhibits, the exhibitors naturally expect to see business improving but this is only possible if adults who can also talk business have access to the event.
This is not to say that children are not expected to attend shows in numbers – they are the future business people and must start at an early age to appreciate the value of such events but this must not undermine its purpose.
Children obviously need to be educated on the purpose of the shows making it easy for them to enter. The shows are a platform for the kids to appreciate the role of agriculture in the Zimbabwean economy through their capacity to blend business and fun.
Maybe charges for stands should also have been lower than what ZAS was charging the exhibitors and this could have attracted more business.
ZAS was charging US$12 per square metre of exhibition space to those who registered as early as March while those who came from June onwards had to fork out US$20 per square metre.
Last year those who registered early paid US$10 per square metre while late comers paid US$15 per square metre.
The charges for stands also needed to be justified by good business throughout the show, which as it stands, may have been affected by the gate charges that most people found high especially with the current liquidity crisis.
Shows are expected to promote business through enhancing interaction between the public and the business community – all essential cogs in the running of the economy.
In its efforts to prop business, ZAS seems to have inadvertently deleted the key players in the public domain – the adults – and in the process sacrificed business. Exhibitors, if given the chance, would gladly concur with this.