Elita Chikwati : Agriculture Reporter
Preparations for the 2016 Harare Agricultural Show have begun with more than 80 percent of the exhibition space already taken. Yesterday, most exhibitors had started working on their stands in preparation for the show which will be held from August 22 to 27 under the theme “Climate Resilience: The New Agricultural Frontier”.Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) public relations officer Ms Heather Madombwe, yesterday said this year’s events included an agribusiness conference, trader’s day, fun-run, Agri and Wildlife quiz among others.
“Entertainment includes road show, youth festival, drum majorettes, fireworks, displays from police, Zimbabwe Defence Forces and Zimbabwe Prison Correctional Services and livestock parades among others.
Children will also be entertained at the amusement park.
The show charges have remained $5 for adults and $1 for children under the age of 12.
“Tuesday August 23 will be free uniforms day and all schoolchildren in uniforms will attend the show free of charge.
“We are taking all forms of plastic money including pre-paid tickets from ZB banks in Harare,” she said.
The tobacco section had been re-introduced as a stand alone section and it would be headed by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.
Ms Madombwe said this year’s theme was appropriate and timely as climatic change had become one of the major issues nationally and internationally.
She said effects of climate change were increasing and this called for stakeholders to come together and work on solutions to the challenges.
According to ZAS, issues of climate resilience have emerged as necessary and survival rallying points of convergence by many since the 1990s.
“Considering the global implications of the impact induced by climate change, climate resilience has become a critical concept that scientific institutions, policymakers, governments and local and international organisations have begun to rally around as a framework for designing the solutions that will be needed to address the effects of global warming,” said ZAS.
The society believes it is key for stakeholders to address vulnerability that communities, states and countries currently face from the environmental consequences of climate change.
“Currently, climate resilience efforts encompass social, economic, technological and political strategies that are being implemented at all scales of society.
“From local community action to global treaties, addressing climate resilience has become a priority, although it could be reasonably argued that a significant amount of the theory has yet to be translated into practice,” ZAS said.