Leading regional farming event Agribusiness Congress East Africa returns to Kampala from 29-30 November as a fully-fledged conference and outdoor exhibition with its move to the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Namulonge
Apart from the high-level conference with high-level expert speakers, the event will this year also feature more than 45 exhibitors, free training workshops and agronomy consultations, roundtable discussions as well as live demonstrations and crop trials.
“The fast growth of the Agribusiness Congress East Africa, this year evolving into an outdoor expo, reflects the burgeoning agri industry and the high regional expectations for East Africa to become the continent’s agricultural hub” says event director Yolanda dos Santos.
She adds: “the East African market represents 145.5 million consumers and its agriculture market is valued at more than $147 billion. However, the region’s agri sector is not developing fast enough to meet market demands due to the lack of commercialisation, mechanisation and access to information. For the fifth time this year, Agribusiness Congress East Africa will gather all the stakeholders in the sector, from farmers, agri experts, industry bodies, government and local and global suppliers and service providers, to make sure the region is equipping itself to play a leading role. And this year, in order to provide a full-scale, outdoor exhibition, we are very excited to partner with the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Namulonge to give exhibitors and visitors an even better experience.”
The Grain Council of Uganda (TGCU) is the official host partner. The chairman of the TGCU, Mr Chris Kaijuka, says “the Agribusiness Congress East Africa and live outdoor exhibition has become a vital component in the development of the East African agricultural sector by providing knowledge, developing marketing networks and displaying emerging technologies all in one location.”
He continues: “for us to truly grasp the opportunity for East Africa, and Uganda in particular, which has evolved into the new frontier for food and grain production and the continent’s food basket, we need to come together and take action to move the industry forward. We urge all industry players with a stake in agriculture to take advantage of this golden opportunity to meet with suppliers, buyers and technocrats and contribute to the development debate.”
Other leading agricultural and economic partners of Agribusiness Congress East Africa including: the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT), Alliance for Commodity Trade in East and Southern Africa (ACTESA), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Eastern African Grain Council, Farm Concern, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), SA Capital Equipment Export Council (SAEEC) and VECO East Africa.
More than a thousand agri professionals are expected to attend Agribusiness Congress East Africa from 29-30 November – entrance to the expo is free.
As in previous years, the technology and services industry in the sector has come out in huge support of the event and with the expo this year, they have even more opportunities to showcase their offerings. Leading farming equipment supplier John Deere and Mascor are platinum sponsors at Agribusiness Congress East Africa while Case, Engsol, Tafe and Toyota are gold sponsors.
Agribusiness Congress East Africa is organised by Spintelligent, a well-known trade conference and expo organiser on the continent, with particular expertise and experience in energy, infrastructure development and agricultural events; including the long-running flagship shows such as Agritech Expo Zambia, Farm-Tech Expo Kenya, Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Uganda, Kenya Mining Forum and African Utility Week in Cape Town.
