Mombasa, KENYA: A total of 170 exhibitors both international and local are expected to grace the Mombasa International Show scheduled to kickoff on August 30th to 3rd September, 2017 at the Mkomani showground in Mombasa.
The key stakeholders are expected to range from sectors such as tourism agriculture, banking regulators, medical , educational , transport , energy , maritime water , and government institutions.
International exhibitors from Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda are also set to participate in the fair with President Uhuru Kenyatta being expected to officially open the show on Thursday 31st August.
This year’s theme is :“Promoting Innovation And Technology In Agriculture And Trade”, Mombasa International Show is expected to showcase significant inventions, developments and unveil new technologies in agriculture and trade.
According to one of the ASK Coast Branch caretaker committee member Mrs. Anisa Abdallah, they settled on the theme so as to ensure residents are aware of the latest technology in Agriculture.
“As a society, it is our aim to spearhead the adoption of new technology for sustainable, profitable and efficient farming in Kenya. There is so much to learn in terms of technology in Agriculture.” Said Mrs. Anisa.
Mrs. Anisa called on Coast residents to attend the show in large numbers so as to learn and engage with various exhibitors on the latest technology in farming.
Among the 170, she added that Base Titanium, Urithi Sacco and Kwale Sugar are among the new exhibitors set to showcase their products to the public.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho is set to grace the fair on Saturday 2nd August; a day set for the county government, she added.
Celebrated Coast musician Mzee Ngala is set to entertain Mombasa residents on Saturday night during a Bango concert.
Agriculture forms the backbone of Kenya’s economy, earning over 24.2% of the country’s $33 billion GDP and employing 75% of the country’s workforce.
Kenya has made rapid gains in innovation of agricultural Technology with the latest one being M-Farm a software that enable farmers to determine the market price of crops, sell their crops collectively and to buy their seed, fertilizers and other inputs together; simply by using their mobile phone or logging on to the M-Farm website.
Another product is i-cow, a product which helps cattle farmers track their cows’ gestation periods to increase livestock numbers by use of an SMS code to register their cows and their insemination date. The service then sends SMS prompts to the registered farmer on the expected date for calving, or the best days for new insemination.
According to a 2012 World Bank report, access to market information through cellphones led to an increase in farmers’ incomes of between 16.5% and 36% in Uganda, and 10% in Ghana; while a recent Vodafone report, estimates a potential increase of $48-billion in agricultural income in Africa by 2020 due to the spread of mobile technology.
