By Tawanda Chenana

THE month of August has always been packed with interesting activities, especially back in the village.

We, in the village, celebrate the Heroes and Defence Forces holidays and as the school holidays unfolded, we looked forward to visiting the capital city for the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, formerly the Harare Agricultural Show.

We always counted those who had been promised a trip to the city for the mega show the blessed ones.

And every time the show is around the corner, I cannot help but feel the goose bumps l felt as a barefoot boy looking forward to visiting the city for the agricultural bonanza.

Older and wiser, I now have a greater appreciation of the agricultural show.

This is one place that will do a lot to push forward our development agenda and Vision 2030 — the perfect fora to solidify and entrench our brick-by-brick, nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi philosophy.

It is that time of the year the farming community and related agricultural industries come together to showcase their products and services.

I will confidently say that the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show is testimony to the success of our Government in promoting agricultural growth despite crippling illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the US and UK.

This is one place everyone, urbanite or villager, must be.

With rural industrialisation taking root, the time to start networking is now.

Villagers and other producers who are beginning to turn their operations into commercial enterprises will reap lifelong benefits from this event.

Without doubt business networking is crucial, considering that it allows operators to reach more clients, acquire knowledge and eventually attain growth and increase profits. 

It is through networking and sharing successes and mistakes with other players that we will accelerate our country’s economic growth. 

Through networking, one understands where not to go wrong, what to do, how to launch a sustainable operation.  

Referrals received through networking will connect one to long-term clients.

Despite the efficiency of the latest social media platforms in connecting people to business, face-to-face interaction remains key to building trust which is critical to survival of a business.

The agricultural show is an eye opener as it presents a wide and exciting range of agricultural produce, mechanisation and technology now available in the country and how it is all bolstering the country’s agricultural sector.

With the high numbers attending the show, I feel it will be prudent for the annual agricultural expo to be extended to two weeks to allow small intensive workshops to be held for interested parties and farmers to learn more about production processes and use of machinery, technology and various other products on display.

The extended duration would facilitate stakeholders in the agro-business industries to network and conduct business in a more conducive, less frenetic and crowded space.  

Given that 67 percent of our national wealth is anchored in agriculture and our food security depends on agro-produce, we cannot afford to take this national event lightly.

With new-age technology, farming has become highly competitive – propelled by the use of ICTs and a rich body of new research on health and safety-conscious farming methods, farming in Zimbabwe today needs to make a quantum leap into the new Digital Age of farming methods.

This calls for equally new and radical approaches, attitudes and technologies that Zimbabwe needs to embrace and exploit in order to leverage national agricultural production.

The agricultural expo is a perfect place to learn new developments.

None but ourselves will build our country, thus it is our collective responsibility as Zimbabweans to nurture the growth, technical development and sustainability of our agro-industries.

The Zimbabwe Agricultural Show also facilitates access to local, regional and world markets involved in agricultural production. 

It also serves as an educational and information hub, not only for farmers, but also to the general public. 

It needs to be made more accessible to schoolchildren who will become our future farmers, leaders and consumers of our produce.

As we embark on rural industrialisation and embrace new agricultural technologies, outdated rural and peri-urban subsistence level farming should make way for new, carbon-free and environmentally safe technologies, up-dated agro-food processing methods and an advanced level of forward-planning in line with the changing climate and soil disposition.

It is worthwhile to pause, reflect and appreciate the benefits that many small and medium entrepreneurs, the ordinary man and woman, are likely to derive from networking at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show.