As the curtain opens on the Naivasha Horticultural Fair 2014 Exhibition, the 12th edition, there is barely room for any shortcoming that may inhibit its success. All minds and hands that know what it entails have been up and down to try to put different pieces together to make what can be seen as the true spirit of the regional horticultural industry.
The event, since its first ever occurrence has continued to aggressively spread its tentacles world over, luring to its importance the most reputed and less comparable companies in various business of sorts.
The beginning of the event concept wasn’t such humble though the humility and value that is endowed in the event itself reflects a totally different picture. Good institutional organization, positive projection and a solemn consideration of participant’s interest.
From the organizers the tussle some process of liaising with potential exhibitors is becoming less stressful due to the consideration that people have absorbed the N H Fair concept and are longer be enticed in order to participate in it. Instead they prepare in time and consider how best they can do their individual exhibitions to make the best out of the entire event. As per now this campaign is not there, most of the exhibitors do participate any other time and know pretty well what is entailed in the process.
Thanks to the organisers who have restlessly worked all round to have the horticultural fraternity exhibit the products and highlight their best practices. Over 60% exhibitors had confirmed participation as early as July. Surprisingly, very few stands had not been booked by the time we went to press. But is this all the organisers’ vision encompasses? Not really. The organization’s managing director, Richard McGonnel takes this as a good indicator to a prospective future for such events and firmly holds that inadequate facilities continue to be a bottleneck to having a much bigger fair. Bigger that exhibitors may have an opportunity of carrying out any kind of demonstration in sufficient space. This is a challenge that he directly tosses to the county government. The Naivasha Spoprts Club is the only appropriate location for such event but there is a lot to be desired in this line.
Exploring the rapid growth of the horticultural industry reveals more than meets the eye. For example, in the next one year, additional 200ha of new roses are projected. This brings in millions dollars worth investment within this vast area. If this is anything to go by then NH Fair is not yet done with its target. It may need a more appropriate space to cater for more exhibitors during the event.
The county government, in this respect has to swallow the bitter pill for its lassitude to expand with the new developments. The ministry of tourism as well as trade haven’t looked beyond the limited space within the county, Soon hordes and hordes of investors will be on a clear road to the region destinations if they act fast enough to develop facilities for international exhibitions.
Insecurity policies among others have been a hindrance to the vibrancy of the sector. In cases where insecurity has been rife, economic performance has forcefully gone down and this affects every other sector in the country horticultural included.
At least 500,000 people derive their livelihood from the sector through employment. With this in considerations, everything possible has to be done to save the worst end for the sector. The current challenge that niggles in the minds of exporters to the European Union Market is the issue of renewed standards.
The phytosanitary regulations set up may not be quite friendly to the exporters but good enough, the inspection regimes set by Horticultural Crops Directorate, PCPB and KEPHIS may save the day. This is important with a consideration of the thousands of Kenyans that are living a better life courtesy of the sub-sector’s performance.
NH Fair 2014 exhibition is highly rated because of its own uniqueness. There is no other event in the region that is this organized and quite a practical trade tool to pull together horticultural sector stakeholders. Unlike other events conceived like the fair, NH Fair is an archetypical business platform that attracts business minded personalities and groups. It does not serve any other purpose than the prime one of developing formidable business axons between one business group and the other. No wonder there has been constant increase rather that decline in the number of participants.
Anticipated Guests
Over 5,000 visitors are expected to visit the fair this year. Among them is a retinue of dignitaries that are expected to explore newer business frontiers on which they can anchor some investment. Expected at the time of the interview are some senior members of the Rwanda government who will lead a team of investors to visit several stands in the fair. Also representatives from Ethiopia , Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Tanzania which are fast developing their agricultural sectors to accede to some international rating are expected.They may with time, compliment Kenya in flower exports to the global market if their growth trend progresses stably.
The ministry of agriculture is expected to play an important role in the fair since it directly falls under its jurisdiction.
Great advantage
This year’s NH Fair marks twelve years of existence of the annual event. It is unique with contrast to other modes of advertising in the sense that it acts as a medium that allows participanta to meet a full understanding of the products and services they have some interest in. In fact this is the bar line for exhibitons. They are practical tools for trade where participants have time to exhibit and be able to negotiate at the same time. This isn’t the case for the common forms of media where one only advertises and impatiently waits for feedback. One may not assess the true position of their clientele with reference to products and services. That is why NH Fair attracts many investors who come not just to explore what is there but also to grab new focal markets.
The timing is also convenient whereby one has enough time to design methods of presenting his or her products. This is important because one is already sure of how many people are to be met and on which line of business.
Challenges
Organizing fairs like NH Fair has never been easy especially in the Kenyan context. It demands for total understanding of the trends characterizing the industry that one targets at the same time assess the two-way benefits that time can be hatched out for the exhibitors.
Notwithstanding the challenges that the horticultural sector faces, there is so much to gain from it. This is therefore is a clear call to all and sundry to rally their overwhelming support in whichever form towards events like NH Fair in the years to come.
Thanks to the organizers for their restless effort to make this event fruitful. As we get into the heart of the event lets take the challenge of improving the horticultural sector’s performance. Thanks again to CFC Stanbic Bank, for supporting this noble idea. In addition, this year it has attracted more sponsorship from Greenlife Crop Protection Africa Ltd, John Deere, Mkulima ni Ujuzi and Seeds of Gold.