The inaugural farming B2B platform, which already enjoys strong support by the farming community, will not only gather farmers from commercial to emerging and small scale, but also key officials from regional governments, agro associations, NGOs, aid, development and research agencies; agro dealers, traders and retailers; suppliers, consultants and technical experts as well as venture capitalists, investors and bankers.
“The role of private sector is recognised in the agricultural policy, strategies and programmes,” says David Nyange, policy advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Tanzania, a supporting partner of the upcoming expo.
“As industrialisation is at the top of the current development agenda, the technologies that will be displayed at the expo have potential to play a great role toward the commercialisation of agriculture which is necessary for ensuring sustainable supply of raw materials to the industry.”
Other host partners for the event are the Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT), the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA), the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha.
Global farming equipment leader John Deere and its distributor in the country, LonAgro Tanzania, are gold sponsors for the event. Lukas Botha, md, LonAgro Tanzania, says, “From land and seed bed preparation, through to crop care and harvesting, the company in Tanzania has the complete solution.”
“The horticultural sector is an awakening giant,” says Harald Peeters, MD Tanzania of the vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan Q-Sem, a bronze sponsor at Agritech Expo. “Tanzania has plenty of land, enough water and year round sunlight. I am looking forward to an expo which raises the awareness of the government to the fact that the private sector is a partner in development, creating thousands of jobs, educating workers and building the nation.”
Other agri suppliers that have already confirmed their presence at the event include Afrivet, Ford, CMC Automobiles, Hughes Motors, Maji, HortiPro, Irrico, Rivulis, AMDT, FNB, Lindsay Africa, Balton, Kibo Seed, Neptun Boot and TFSC.
The success story of the outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo, which is about to expand to Tanzania, started in the Zambian agri-hub of Chisamba three years ago and has been a tremendous boost for that country’s farming sector. The inaugural Agritech Expo Tanzania transitioned from the Agribusiness Congress conference that has taken place in Dar es Salaam for the last three years.
Agritech Expo Zambia in 2016 drew a record-breaking attendance of 17,605 visitors and 160 exhibitors over 70,000 sqm of space. The three-day expo also featured two international pavilions, from Germany and Zimbabwe, welcomed two agriculture ministers from Zambia and the Czech Republic and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu officially opened the show.
“We at John Deere have been attending and exhibiting at this event since its inception three years ago and are pleased to see the progress that the organisers are making in growing this event and reaching all those concerned with agriculture from government to small scale farmers,” says Kevin Lesser, global marketing director, John Deere, Kenya. “We fully support the direction of growth intended for this event in Tanzania. We look forward to next year’s event.”
For more information, go to www.agritechexpotanzania.com.
