The 7th National Agriculture expo ended yesterday with a call on exhibitors to transform from subsistence to commercial farming.While addressing the exhibitors, the Minister of ICT and Youth, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, asked the farmers to use fertilisers and adopt use of up-date technology in their farming activities so as to increase their production.“In many African countries over 90 per cent of the population are involved in agriculture as their main occupation. It’s in this regard that I encourage the exhibitors to play a key role in turning this sector into one of the most productive sectors in your respective countries because it will help to improve the countries’ GDP and growth in general,” Nsengimana said.He asked banks and other financial institutions to put in place mechanisms which will enable investors in the agriculture sector to easily acquire loans to facilitate large scale farming. This year’s expo, held under the theme, “Accelerating agriculture transformation by promoting agro-processing” attracted over 140 exhibitors from East Africa, Europe, Asia, among others.The minister also urged the exhibitors to always be creative and innovative in their respective farming activities, saying this will help them to compete on national, regional and international markets.Venant Gakarama , the president of Kora ubeho Cooperative from Musanze District, which deals in Irish potato farming commended the Ministry of Agriculture for organising the expo, saying it offered them market and a platform to share ideas with other exhibitors on how to increase production.Fruito, a juice making company from Burundi emerged as Best Exhibitor and were awarded with a trophy and certificate of appreciation. “I am really surprised for emerging as best exhibitor because it was my first time to attend this expo. I am very happy because this has given me more confidence that what my company produces is of high quality and I look forward to always attending all expos in this country,” Director General of Fruito, Marie Muque Kigoma, told The New Times.Kigoma also thanked the organisers, adding that this is the importance of being in the East African Community.Urugaga Imbaraga, a farmers’ cooperative from Musanze District, emerged as THE best exhibitor among the Rwandan agriculture cooperatives which participated in the expo.Agriculture represents around 90 per cent of GDP among the East African countries and it’s in this regard that farmers and investors in the agriculture sector were called on to promote quality and quantity of what they produce.
