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Oliver Kazunga
Senior Business Reporter
the uptake of exhibition space for this year’s Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, which begins tomorrow, rose by 32 percent to 70 407,48 square metres (m2), from 53 300m2 in the corresponding period last year.
The exhibition, the 114th edition, has attracted over 500 exhibitors from 13 countries, including the host, Zimbabwe, compared to just six countries last year.
Foreign participants are from countries in the Southern African Development Community, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) chief executive officer Dr Andrew Matibiri told this publication last week that most of the exhibitors were on site, at the Exhibition Park in Harare, preparing their stands and displays.
“With the containment of the recent regional cholera outbreak, ZAS is excited to announce that this show will be open to all showgoers with the normal full programme of business conferences and entertainment events.
“Space uptake to date is 70 407 48 square metres by 500 exhibitors (as at August 20, 2024).
“Last year, at the same time, the space uptake was 53 300m2 by 410 exhibitors . . .
“To date, 12 foreign participants from Russia, India, South Africa, Zambia, Pakistan, Eswatini, Japan, Russia, Mozambique, China, Malawi and Tanzania have confirmed their participation, compared to five in 2023,” he said.
This year’s show will run under the theme “Cultivating Prosperity: Growing business. Innovating for Change. Nurturing Our Future”.
Dr Matibiri said the show would be officially opened on Tuesday by a yet-to-be-named invited Head of State, whose full details will be announced in due course.
Last year’s event was officially opened by President Mnangagwa.
Among the highlights of the show during the week will be the 12th Annual National Agribusiness Conference, which will be held on Wednesday, focusing on “Cultivating Prosperity: Seeding Solutions for Livestock Sustainability”.
A day after, additional key attractions would be the environmental, social and governance conference; the research for agricultural excellence indaba; and the Diplomatic Network Business conferences.
The agricultural show offers unique business and networking opportunities through exhibitions and conferences.
It is against this background that, through the agri-produce segment, the show draws its entrants from winners of provincial shows, 10 from each province, and the 100 winners first compete and win at ward, district and provincial show levels to get admittance into the agricultural show.
“The tobacco section will feature displays of produce from winners from the provinces and for this year, the emphasis is on promoting production of quality tobacco in Zimbabwe.
“There were 104 entries this year and final verification is underway, and under the cotton section, entries were drawn from the eight cotton-growing provinces, selecting only the top two farmers per province battling for a top spot.
“The emphasis for this is on focused agriculture, productivity and yield levels. The cotton section introduced a new category last year, which is the Young Cotton Farmer of the Year,” said Dr Matibiri.
On the livestock side, he said the section will feature displays from the provincial winners and special emphasis is on promoting climate-resilient breeds, as well as increasing the national herd size.
There will also be exhibitions of cattle breeds (beef and dairy), pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and poultry.
Over 200 000 showgoers are expected to attend this year’s event.
“Great emphasis has been put on the safety and security of both exhibitors and visitors to the extent that wider and more modern CCTV cameras have been installed, in addition to the use of drones,” said Dr Matibiri.
Online Reporter