Zambia’s first ever ‘full-scale’ agricultural expo a resounding success

Reports from Zambia indicate that the country’s “first full-scale, live agriculture event” held at Chisamba earlier in April was a resounding success.

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Attended by more than 8 000 people, the Agritech Expo hosted 109 exhibitors, who displayed everything from the latest crop management technologies to poultry equipment.

According to Dr Evelyn Nguleka, president of the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU), the expo “was a realised dream for ZNFU and all the farmers”.

Agritech Expo’s event director Liam Beckett said the expo had cemented Zambia as the region’s “future breadbasket and agri-powerhouse”.

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The many deals that took place showed that the Zambian market is ready for “this kind of agri-event, where everyone is welcome from the large-scale to the emerging farmer,” said Beckett.

Delivering the keynote address at the expo’s Agribusiness Congress, Zambia’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Wylbur Simuusa, reiterated his government’s commitment to collaborating with the farming sector to use agriculture to fight poverty.

USAID’s Southern African Trade Hub presented free workshops at the expo aimed at enhancing smallholder and emerging commercial farmers’ understanding of the modern agricultural technologies on display.

Emmanuel Sinyangwe, one of Zambia’s developing commercial farmers, said: “I’m now walking with my head high for having added knowledge from the first of its kind Agritech Expo. My farm will never be the same again.”

For more information about 2015’s Agritech Expo, visit www.agritech-expo.com