The Oruharui SME Agricultural Mini Expo will return this year for its third instalment.
The minis expo, which is the brainchild of agribusiness entrepreneur Florence Handura, brings together various players in the agriculture industry for a show down in the various prize categories up for grabs.
This year's event will be held on 28 to 31 October at Okatjoruu in the Okotjituuo area in the Okakarara constituency.
The mini show, according to Handura, was founded with the aim of bridging the gap between buyers and sellers in the agriculture industry in the area and to also boost the local economy of Okotjituuo.
Another aim of the mini expo is to get young people off the streets and instead encourage them to turn to agribusiness as a means to put bread on the table.
Handura, popularly known for her sauce blend 'Ondungu sauce', told AgriToday the mini expo will this year be bigger and better, with more farmers expected to bring their livestock to the event.
She said the expo prides itself with the fact that it encourages innovative businesses to exhibit their products so as to diversify the scope of focus for many local farmers who are mostly hooked on livestock farming.
"We have exhibitors who will bring unique products to the expo, such as those breeding with dogs, others with poultry products such as pigeons and so on. The plan here is to allow them to show others that one can farm with anything – as long as its profitable and you are driven by passion," she said.
Handura's journey into agribusiness is phenomenal; her Ondungu sauce took many farmers by surprise and has since become a favourite sauce to go with many a meat-eating occasion in rural areas. Seeing an opportunity to market her new product and other ventures that she had in the pipeline, Handura birthed the idea of the mini expo.
"We need to realise that we cannot just make or produce products and leave them to the market. We need to be consistently adding value to our products and persistently marketing them. Events such as this mini expo are unique selling platforms that would promote your work and bring value to it," she said.
Various corporate entities such as AgriBank and a few commercial banks will feature at the mini expo to bring services and information closer to the people they serve.
Also, various SMEs trading in items related to farming have already registered to take part in the mini expo.
"We want to send a strong statement with this expo – and that is that anyone can achieve success, but you have to work for it by improving your product and learning from others in the field. Without such nurturing, it will be difficult to enjoy success in your business," said Handura.
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