The Sunday Mail
Norman Muchemwa and Ellen Sanyanga
THE Zimbabwe Agriculture Society (ZAS) has moved backwards by one week, dates of its rebranded Zimbabwe Agriculture Show from August 26 to 31 (as earlier announced) to August 19 to 24.
ZAS rebranded its annual agricultural exhibition, the Harare Agricultural Show, to the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in January this year as part of its efforts to have a national outlook.
ZAS chief executive officer, Dr Anxious Masuka, made the announcement of the change of dates Tuesday afternoon.
Dr Masuka attributed the change of dates to the need to align the calendar with national and international stakeholders.
“Earlier, we invited you here to announce our rebranding and show dates. We then advised that the show was to be held from August 26 to 31. However, owing to the need to realign our calendar with both national and international stakeholders, while ensuring that we retain relevance and growth, we are now bringing back the show a week earlier, from August 19 to 24,” said Dr Masuka.
“That rebranding naturally brings with it the need to realign with our bigger and broader stakeholders.”
Dr Masuka said in as much as the change of dates might affect other parties involved, the move is meant to ensure the show experiences are unforgettable.
Further, this year’s event will be officially opened by a visiting Head of State who is yet to be announced.
“In addition, to the change of dates, we would like to inform you that we are likely to have a visiting Head of State as the guest of honour. The last time our show was opened by a foreigner dignitary was in 2016 when we hosted the Vice President of Sierra Leone.”
He urged exhibitors to take advantage of the remaining space and register early as space is running out.
“We would like to urge exhibitors that haven’t taken space for the show to do so as space is running out. We currently have 227 exhibitors compared to 219 last year, on over 28 000 square metres compared to 22 000 last year.
“There are many other value-adding activities as part of new initiatives during this year’s show such as the farmer’s festival and demonstration area for crops and livestock activities,” said Mr Masuka.
The re-branding of Harare Agricultural Show, he said, is not simply a name change but a transformation from displaying the agricultural value chain to a creation of an ecosystem of opportunities for stakeholders, principally exhibitors, farmers and show-goers.
