Harvest Money Expo 2018: Keep time, exhibitors told

Feb 09, 2018

With 120 exhibitors already confirmed, this year's expo will be the second edition of what has fast-become an important item on the local events calender.

HARVEST MONEY EXPO 2018

KAMPALA - Did you know that there are about 13 million cattle in Uganda, and that as far as milk production is concerned, this has grown by over 500% in the last 12 years?

This is information by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS).

There is definitely a whole sea of information on agriculture that you, an aspiring or already established farmer, may want to equip yourself with. That's why Vision Group, alongside several other partners, has organised yet another edition of the Harvest Money Expo. This year's edition will start on February 16 and run until February 18 at Namboole Stadium. It's bigger and definitely better.

In the buildup to the much-anticipated exhibition, exhibitors convened inside the Namboole boardroom for a briefing on Friday, where they were given guidelines on how to go about their showing during the three days of the farming expo.


Exhibitors streamed in as early as 8am local time for the briefing. Be sure to find and learn from the best farmers from across the country in one place come D-day.

 

 


Exhibitors were treated to a sumptuous breakfast minutes before the briefing started at the Namboole boardroom. All of them are looking to showcase a wide-range of farming equipment, tools and techniques over the three-day exhibition.

 

 

 


This year's expo will be the second edition of what has fast-become an important item on the local events calender. This time round, about 120 exhibitors have already confirmed they will set up at Namboole Stadium to showcase what they do and have to offer.

 

 

 

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The already confirmed exhibitors, all related to farming, are local companies and others coming from The Netherlands. The local companies cut across nearly all agriculture needs.

The sponsors of the event include The Netherlands Embassy, Dfcu, Operation Wealth Creation, Engsol, Davis & Shirtliff, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries, URA, Vegetable Oil Development Project and Mandela.

 

 

 


"This year, we shall use the whole of Namboole Stadium to accommodate the overwhelming number of people that come for the exhibition," Susan Nsibirwa, Vision Group's head of marketing, told exhibitors on Friday.

 

 


Nsibirwa was also keen to advise the exhibitors on punctuality. "Come as early as possible. Let the visitors find you ready and set," she said.

 

 

 


Meanwhile, exhibitors were told to specifically use the Northern Gate - not the main gate. Irrigation and machinery exhibitors will start their setup on Wednesday (February14) and the rest of the exhibitors will start their setup the following day, on Thursday.

 

 


Namboole will be a one-stop centre for all your farming needs during the expo. There will be also be training sessions every day, for which you will part with sh10,000 each day. Entrance will also be sh10,000 each day. Organisers have maintained that every penny of that amount will be worth it.

To the exhibitors, don't worry about parking. You will find your space on setup day. There won't be a fee to pay for parking. That has been taken care of, according to Vision Group's Joweria Nabuuma, who is in charge of logistics for the event.

 

 

 


"We, the organisers, assure you that when you enter the stadium, your farming life will never be the same again," writes Harvest Money editor Joshua Kato (pictured left) in the pullout's editorial of Friday, February 9, 2018.

 

 

 

 


Last year, exhibitors were exposed to as many as 20,000 visitors. This time round, the number is going to be bigger.

 

 

 


After the exhibitors briefing on Friday, Nabuuma took exhibitors around the stadium to have a feel of the area that will be hub of activity during the expo. They asked a wide range of questions and gladly received responses to them.

"For us with seedlings to showcase, can we have more water?" one asked.

"We will talk to our supplier to see that we have more water," came the response.

Another asked: "How about the toilet issue. Last year, toilets were a mess."

"No worries, we have contracted a private company that will manage the 180 toilets in the stadium. We also have secured enough toilet paper to that effect," was the feedback.

And so on, and so forth . . .

 


There will be security both inside and outside the stadium. "But then, personal security is also important," exhibitors were cautioned.

Ambulances will be at hand to handle emergency cases.

"Bring glucose. And a lot of it. Last year, we had two exhibitors collapse due to exhaustion," said Nabuuma.

 

 

 

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