Mutharika to open National Agriculture Fair on Thursday

State House today announced that Malawi President Peter Mutharika will officially open the 11th National Agriculture Fair at the Chichiri Trade Fair Grounds in Blantyre on Thursday August 28.
This year’s agriculture fair is being held under the theme: “Agriculture: A Basis for Inclusive Economic Growth.”
President Mutharika will arrive at the venue at 9 am, State House said.
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) told Malawi News Agency that it is overwhelmed with the participants’ turnout for the 11th National Agriculture Fair which runs from 28 to 30 August.
MCCCI’s Manager for Public-Private Dialogue (PPD), Hope Chavula, said the fair has so far registered over 65 participants including exhibitors throughout the whole value chain from research, input suppliers and producers (including farmer organizations), processors and buyers of agriculture produce and service providers.
“We can proudly say that we are delighted with the response we are getting from the public and we are hoping that by the 26 August, 2014 we will have more exhibitors.
“Currently, we have the whole Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development coming in as a participant as well as some organisations and companies such as CFAO, FEEDCO, ARET and many more will also be there to exhibit their machineries,” said Chavula at a press briefing at Chichiri Conference Centre.
Chavula said the fair would act as a forum for the stakeholders to share experiences and expertise on agricultural activities in order to promote linkages generated from the value chain combination among players whereby they would discuss and conclude business deals resulting in improved performance of the sector.
“Due to increasing activities by small scale farmers, the fair is also meant to expose individual farmers and farmer groups to new developments in technologies, markets, and financial arrangements, and other services,” explained Chavula.