Agrihouse Calls for More Agric Exhibitions to Promote Sector

The Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa has reiterated the need for more agric exhibitions, as a major component of agriculture development. She said well-funded agricultural exhibitions, which are excellently executed have the potential of contributing significantly to the socio-economic and cultural development of counties, as well as the health and wellness of the people.

“Exhibitions also have the potential of promoting rural tourism and bringing in visitors from outside the region and abroad,” she noted.

She added, value chain actors in the sector are able to promote the industries and produce, and to exchange knowledge with each other. Furthermore, agric exhibitions also enrich local communities and build cohesion, by reconnecting urban populations with rural areas and helping build an understanding of food and farming.

Recently sponsored by the Italian Trade Agency to represent Agrihouse Foundation, among a (14) member-Ghanaian Business Delegation, the Executive Director participated in this year’s International Exposition of Machinery for Agriculture and Gardening Exhibitions (EIMA International 2022), which took place in Bologna, Italy— and has described the experience as a timely opportunity, especially for Agrihouse Foundation, who among other events, are organizers of the biggest annual market linkage agricultural Exhibitions and Conference Event in Ghana— the Pre-harvest Agribusiness Conference and Exhibitions.

“This gesture comes as a much-needed opportunity,” Ms. Akosa emphasized, “While we are extremely grateful for it, it allows us [Agrihouse Foundation] to be exposed to the very best of agricultural machinery, at a time when Ghana is in need of efficient and affordable mechanization equipment for its agricultural sector.”

Being a development facilitation organization, she added, the event further provided Agrihouse Foundation a rare chance to engage directly with the manufacturers and distributors of the best agricultural machineries in the world. “Given the strength of our operations, we have developed a strong data of Businesses, Associations, Aggregators and other value chain players, that we intend to introduce the advanced but appropriate Italian Machineries to them,” she said. “Also, our talks with some key Italian companies are promising and positive, as they are not only in to sell but our discussions our tailored towards representing them in Ghana as their Distributors.”

Additionally, these Italian Companies are ready to visit Ghana to offer Training and other After Sales Services, such that, Ghanaian Agribusinesses and farmers who purchase their products are assured of longevity and sustainability in using their equipment. “We are therefore continuing our conversations with these Manufacturers, and we remain positive of establishing a Distributor Relationship with them,” she stressed.

Some of the companies we engaged with include: AGRO TRACTORS, KURTSAN, GOLDINI, DAL DEGAN, CAFFINI, OCMIS, ITALMIX, SPAPPERI, NARDI, AGRI MECH, CATTINI, NORMA GROUP, ACMA, TECHNIK PLUS, CARON, SOMAPHY WEST AFRICA, CGM GRUPPI ELETTROGENI, FORGIO, CAFFINI, METZER, DAKR, YAGMUR MOTOR, MOM, MARTIGNANI, ELAISIAN, ALCISI, EXETRA, RM IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT, BCS.

About EIM International 2022

Biennially, Italy plays host to one of the most significant agricultural exhibitions in the world; the International Exposition of Machinery for Agriculture and Gardening Exhibitions (EIMA International).

While EIMA International is committed to projecting and promoting the technological, machinery, equipment and mechanization capacity and business strength of Italy, and the platform further creates a highly interactive environment for the establishment of sustainable partnerships between Italian businesses and other foreign businesses.
The event is intentionally designed to cover areas including engineering, land reclamation and forestry equipment, mechanization, soil-working, sowing and fertilizer distribution equipment, plant and crop protection equipment, Irrigation equipment, and harvesting machinery. The rest are machinery for first crop processing and storage, Livestock husbandry equipment, machinery for agroindustry, crop transportation equipment, Components, accessories and spare parts; as well as gardening and public green area equipment, among others.

Thus, with so much to showcase and engage participants with, the five (5) day event, also the forty-fifth (45^th) edition, took place in the city of in Bologna, on a 375,000 square meter space. It brought together 327,100 visitors, which according to the organizers, improves the record of 2018 (317,000) and establishes itself as a top event on the international scene.

By overcoming the most critical two-year period for trade exhibition events (2020-2022); first the health emergency and then by the difficult economic situation, EIMA International has further strengthened its leadership in the trade exhibition landscape. Its international nature, according to organizers, is one of its strongest selling points, making it an outstanding platform among others in the same niche. It is imperative to note that this year, foreign visitors from every continent, accounted for eighteen percent (18%) of the total attendance.

“The success of EIMA confirms the growing interest in new-generation agricultural technologies to meet the food needs of a global population that will grow by almost a billion within the next ten years,” the President of FederUnacoma, President Alessandro Malavolti, noted in a press statement. He added, “this confirms how in every region of the world, work is being done to innovate cultivation methods, seeking to make scientific and sustainable use of water resources and soil fertility.” In this perspective, President Malavolti, reiterated that a trade exhibition like EIMA has an important mission also for the years to come.

For his part the Director General of FederUnacoma, Simona Rapastella, noted that, “the result of this edition is the result of a very rigorous monitoring that we carry out as a Federation, trying to offer manufacturers and the trade public increasingly efficient trade exhibition services.  It is also the result of a very precise strategy concerning the Eima brand and the content of the exhibition, as well as a major investment we have made to promote it and to involve all strategic targets. Additional investments were made by BolognaFiere to improve the structures of the exhibition centre – concluded Rapastella – which will continue in the coming years in step with a show that has a great present and a great future.”

The exhibition also offered the opportunity for participants to participate in specialized thematic showcases such as the following:

EIMA Green (The full range for green): EIMA Green is the showcase allocated to mechanical technologies and equipment for gardening and the groundskeeping of green areas. The showcase features exhibitions of the most innovative instruments for the maintenance of parks, sports facilities and public and private greens as well as advanced systems for urban décor and green architecture.

EIMA Components (World leaders in the sector): EIMA Components is the showcase dedicated to the enormous sector of components for agricultural mechanical engineering for bringing together industries from around the world presenting manufacturers and suppliers their spare parts and accessories for all types of machinery and equipment.

EIMA Energy (The EIMA International bio challenge): EIMA Energy is the showcase packed with technologies for the use of renewable energy resources of agricultural and forestry origins. The showcase is one of the most highly qualified appointments for businesses in the sector. It offers a wide panorama of machinery and technologies for the rational and economic management of agro-energy supply chains in all production and environmental settings. Other than the exhibition itself, the EIMA Energy Showcase also provides an outside area for demonstration trials of new generation machinery and systems.

EIMA Idrotech (Technologies and management of water): To enhance the value of the numerous exhibitions of irrigation machinery and systems, an EIMA International strong point, the organizers of the 2018 edition decided to create a new exhibition area for the sector.

EIMA Digital (Dedicated to advanced electronics): Reserved for the most advanced electronic technologies and precision agriculture, the Eima Digital space, born in 2018 as a thematic area, became a specialized show in 2021, offering a broad landscape of IT and electronic applications that characterize modern agriculture.

In a recent press release, organizers of EIMA International have revealed that the next edition of the Exhibition is already set for 6 to 10 November 2024, but a major event for agricultural machinery will also take place next year, with the return of Agrilevante by EIMA, the exhibition dedicated to mechanization for crops in the Mediterranean area, which will be held at the Bari exhibition centre from 5 to 8 October 2023.