The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Farming Reporter
THE First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe is expected to officially open the Matabeleland South Agricultural Show next month.
Matabeleland South Agricultural Show Society president Councillor George Chipengo said preparations for this year’s exhibition were at an advanced stage.
This year’s 60th edition of the show will be held from 17 to 19 August under the theme, “Economic Transformation Through Sustainable Innovations”.
“Preparations for the exhibition are going very well. We have had many inquiries compared to last year during the same period and we are also impressed by the number of participants that have confirmed their attendance as well as those that are working on their pavilions and exhibition stands with traditional exhibitors especially those in the agricultural sector coming earlier than normal, which shows that interest is very high. We expect the show to be officially opened by the First Lady on 19 August,” said Clr Chipengo.
He said there was overwhelming response from stakeholders from all the districts in the province. The exhibition is running as a provincial fair for the second time. The show was previously known as the Gwanda Agricultural Show but in a bid to encompass all the districts in the province it was renamed Matabeleland South Agricultural Show.
“The livestock session is doing well as a number of commercial farmers have already confirmed their participation while there is also a growing number of communal farmers that are expected to bring various forms of livestock for exhibition. Sadly though we aren’t going to have livestock coming from the West Nicolson area because it’s still under quarantine after an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease,” said Clr Chipengo.
The Show Society has also partnered various private sector players to consummate infrastructural developments at the exhibition centre.
“We have partnered with a number of companies to embark on various infrastructural developments with one of them set to give a facelift to our arena and public toilets while another one has started doing landscaping around our administration offices.
“Last week we had a borehole drilled for us through the Community Share Ownership Trust,” said Clr Chipengo.
@DNsingo
