Agric Show clashes with Consumer Fair
Lekopanye Mooketsi | Monday August 25, 2014 16:22
The Consumer Fair also starts today (August 25) and will run until Sunday, August 31 while the Agricultural Show will also be held over the same period.
This has put doubt as to whether the agricultural show will be able to attract a good crowd due to the competition from the Fair.
In the past two years, the Consumer Fair was hosted before the Agricultural Show.
The chairperson of the Agricultural Show committee, Gaokgakala Rammidi, said they became aware of the schedule conflict when planning was already at an advanced stage.
But she says they still see opportunities, even if the two shows are held simultaneously. She said if, for example, someone were visiting Gaborone, they would then be able to attend both shows and save costs in the process. “You would only come once for both shows,” she said. She believes the two fairs will compliment one another.
“We think the attendance is going to be high. We feel the participation is going to be fine. We expect the event to be bigger,” she said, indicating that most of the stalls at the agricultural fairground have been booked.
Rammidi said they are also expecting a high number of exhibitors because there was improved rainfall in the last season. The show organisers are therefore expecting an improvement in the quality of livestock and the crop production. Like in past fairs, she said, there will be prime cattle breeds from places like Ghanzi which is considered to be the country’s leading beef production area.
At time of going to press, the show organisers had not confirmed who the guest speaker officiating would be. Rammidi said they initially invited the Namibian Minister of Agriculture who accepted the invitation. However, he later informed then that he could not make it. The official opening of the show is on August 27.
As with last year, the theme for this year’s show is ‘transforming agriculture in the wake of climate change’. Rammidi said they have decided to repeat the theme because of the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural produce.
Some of the companies sponsoring the agricultural show include Debswana, Feed Centre Botswana and Mechanised Farming.
Meanwhile, the livestock-judging ring that is being erected at the showground will not be ready for this year’s event. Rammidi said the delay in the construction of the structure was caused by a workers’ strike in South Africa.
It is also not clear whether the horse racing event will be held this year. Rammidi said this is because they weren’t able to secure a sponsor for the event.