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Bothaville - Farmers from all over the country are flocking to Bothaville – but not to braai.
The annual Nampo Harvest Festival has become the biggest agricultural exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere and organisers expect more than 70 000 visitors over the four days of the exhibit, which ends on Friday.
A total of 650 exhibitors, many from Europe and South America, are exhibiting
This event is hugely important to South Africa as a whole – not only to the agricultural sector, says Jannie de Villiers, CEO of Grain SA.
Maize has a vital influence on the total economy, as it determines food inflation in South Africa.
But the Nampo festival is not about maize anymore, as Johan Smit, media relations representative of the show explains.
Every perceivable crop is represented and some of the heavyweights of the most important livestock breeders’ associations are exhibiting prime examples.
The show had three main objectives, De Villiers explained:
- To ensure sustainable and profitable farming in the context of food security. Farmers can compare latest technologies and services in one day on one site, do their planning for the year and enable themselves to compete in a difficult market and conditions against subsidised international producers.
- It is a great networking opportunity. Farmers can learn from each other. The show creates opportunities that help agriculture as a whole. It does not only help farmers, but suppliers can also see what the needs on grassroots level are.
- It is a great opportunity to build the image of agriculture. It demonstrates what a complex science agriculture has become.
“It is not only agriculture as an industry that benefits,” said Smith.
It is a huge economic boost for the area, as thousands of visitors from all over the country stream to Bothaville.
“Anything any farmer from Sub-Sahara Africa may need to produce food sustainably, is here,” he said.
