WINDHOEK – Shows and trade fair societies have been rubbed over the knuckles for operating increasingly in fragmented ways.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Meat Corporation of Namibia Meatco, Advocate Vekuii Rukoro said such actions do not promote the interests of the communities in regions, but rather work against it. Advocate Rokoro was the key-note speaker at the launch of the Third Annual Omaheke Trade Fair Fried-raising last Tuesday during which Standard Bank Namibia, that has been the main sponsor of the Fair, committed N$55,000 this year.
This fair is taking place in Gobabis at the Legare Stadium on September 22 – 27. Although he did not spell it out, his remarks were clearly directed at the organisers of the Omaheke Trade Fair and the annual Gobabis Agricultural and Industrial Show, who have been promising a merger of these two prestigious events for the past two years without it happening. Once again, the community with its rich resources, will have to put up with two separate shows over the same time period as the 51st Gobabis Show will be hosted from September 22 – 25.
The Chairperson of the Gobabis Show Society, Floris van Niekerk and Governor of the Omaheke Region, Festus Ueitele, told Farmers Forum that discussions are ongoing to make this dream of one show/trade fair come true in 2015.
Meanwhile, Rukoro says divided interests not only duplicate efforts and stretches resources that are already limited but also diminish the impact of each individual group. He is urging communities and farming groups to work together in order to achieve much more.
Rukoro says corporations are not interested in promoting the separate and individual interests of subgroups in the community, especially groups in the same town of farming area. “This fragmented way of working forces corporates like Meatco to divide whatever little resources we have among many competing subgroups within the same community or region, thus reducing the ultimate of such support in the final analysis. Even though shows and trade fairs have increased at a rapid rate, the events budgets of corporates like Meatco only experience a modest increase,” he says.
Rukoro says after 25 years of independence, as a united country Namibians don’t want to perpetuate the fragmentation of the meat industry into communal farmers, emerging farmers and commercial farmers. “We want to talk about unified Namibian farmers, who are merely at different stages of the same journey,” he stresses. He concludes that farmers are paying N$10 000 per head for an animal that should cost N$3 500. “That is not very efficient, and it’s just because we are not working together. Imagine the value we can unlock if we manage this production chain to a common vision,” he says. “We urge our friends in the Omaheke Trade Fair to look for opportunities to consolidate initiatives in the region. We urge you to create platforms for different groups, especially farming groups, to work together and to complement each other at your event.” He concludes that such cooperation will open new doors of support, especially from corporate sponsors.