Intensifying agriculture revolution through exhibitions

The third edition of Agrikexpo/Foodbext West Africa took place recently in Lagos, with Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture and rural development, and a host of other dignitaries gracing the occasion. In this write-up, OLUYINKA ALAWODE examines imperatives of exhibitions in boosting agricultural development and creating wealth in Nigeria.

The recently concluded Agrikexpo/Foodbext West Africa exhibition by 151 Products Limited, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has demonstrated the importance of exhibitions in boosting agricultural development in Nigeria.

The three-day annual Agrikexpo, a Pan-West African exhibition, the largest food and beverage show in Nigeria, which held at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, was the third of this annual exhibition.

Agrikexpo is a platform that brings together farmers, processors, distributors, research institutes, donor agencies, exporters, large scale agric raw materials sellers and buyers to meet for business-to-business interactions. This expo also set out to be a platform for stakeholders in the agric sector to meet and forge ways for mutual benefits and give opportunity for networking and integration of business ideas. Above all, it set out to put Nigeria on the world map as a hot-spot for agric as pure business.

In this third edition, Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture and rural development, described it as the crème de la crème of exhibitions and business-to-business interactions on Africa’s agribusiness opportunities.

According to Adesina, Agrikexpo, which is adjudged West Africa’s largest food and beverage exhibition and seminars, is providing invaluable contribution to developing agribusiness trade relations in Africa. Commending the organisers at the opening ceremony, Adesina said: “It is due to your vision, your diligence and your quest for positive change in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector that the Agrikexpo platform has become a leading forum for high-level and highly impactful engagements in the Pan-African agribusiness sector.”

Agrikexpo West Africa – 2014 is the agricultural products/agro-allied industry expo in West Africa designed to create a B-2-B meeting platform between agri-business stakeholders/practitioners in West Africa and their overseas counterparts.

In his opening speech last year, the second edition of the Agrikexpo, Sam Ohuabunwa, chairman, 151 Products Limited, the host of the expo, said data from the national office of statistics revealed that bureaucracy and corruption had reduced in the nation’s agric sector, as farmers have better experience in getting needed materials to improve their yields. “Though, we are still behind, we all have to continue to support the agric revolution and extension services, as introduced by the present ministry of agriculture. We all should “let the agric revolution intensify” in all ramification,” he stated.

As predicted by Ohuabunwa in his opening speech, the expo afforded those in the agricultural value chains to increase their market appeal and demand for their products.

Sotonye Anga, president, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria (CASON), last year, also stated at the debut that the Nigerian agric sector was in a new era, as the ministry of agriculture had been able to spell out the businesses in the agric value chain and empowered them to reduce the nation’s dependence on food imports.

According to Anga, due to the new agric policy, the nation had been able to store 20 million metric tons of food and create 3 million job opportunities in the last few years. He said that was the reason the nation did not go through any food crisis after the recent flood disaster across the country.

With an exhibition like this, there is hope for our agric sector, Anga said, stating that before now the nation spent $11 billion on food imports, which was 35 percent of its annual budget.

The Agrikexpo has also given NAFDAC a good platform to impress on businesses in the agric sector the need for standards to ensure food safety, which brings about national development and international respect among the comity of nations towards food security.

Ogochukwu Mainasara, a director in NAFDAC, who represented Paul Orhii, director-general, NAFDAC, last year, at one of the for a, said: “Expo like this encourages sub-regional integration, therefore, there is need for standards to be maintained. Every nation have to take measures to safeguard its citizenry from sub-standard products to have a healthy national development.”

Last year’s, the expo also had important personalities such as the Lagos State governor, represented by Gbolahan Lawal, the state’s agric commissioner, and other state governors’ representatives, over 23 corporate exhibitors and about five countries participating. But this year’s had over 50 corporate exhibitors with about 10 other countries participating. Also, this year’s saw some dignitaries receiving awards for their efforts in repositioning the agric sector in their various levels. One of such was Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, receiving an award as the best agric promoter governor in Nigeria.

It is also worthy of note that the largest market for food and beverage products – Balogun Business Association, also endorsed the Agrikexpo as a key event in facilitation of cross-border trade and brand penetration. According to Prince Azike, publicity secretary of the association, members of the association are thankful to the organisers of the Agriexpo for bridging the gap between critical market segments and brand owners through the exhibition.