From 2018 joint program at leading agricultural trade fairs in Africa
DLG and Fairtrade enter into strategic partnership for Africa
The two trade fair organizers agreed to a cooperation covenant on November 15th during Agritechnika 2017 in Hanover. For example, DLG will bring its trade fairs expertise and its trade fair brand AgroTech to the existing agrofood Fairtrade trade fairs in Ethiopia and Nigeria, as well as - alternately - Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
The focus of the cooperation is on the fields of agricultural technology and animal husbandry. The primary goal of the cooperation is to offer German and international exhibitors the best possible platforms for their market developments, thus enabling the sustainable development of these agriculturally important emerging countries.
Partners for Africa (left to right): Jens Kremer - business developer DLG Service, Paul März - Exhibition Director fairtrade, Martin März - Founder & Managing Partner Fairtrade, Peter Grothues - Managing Director DLG Service and Bernd Koch - Managing Director DLG International
In order to attract new visitor target groups, such as the so-called Large Scale Farmers from the target and neighboring markets, a regionally adapted DLG specialist program will be set up or expanded. With the support of industry experts, know-how along the entire value chain of plant production in the regions will be transferred.
Both Ethiopia, the world's leading producer of coffee, corn and millet and its vast integrated agroindustrial parks, and Nigeria as Africa's largest economy, and the most populated country with 190 million inhabitants, are experiencing strong demand for innovative technologies for agricultural production. The same can be said for other West and East African markets. Above all, solutions for more efficient irrigation and plant protection are on the agenda of politicians and farmers. "We want to open up these markets for our exhibitors and any interested companies," explains Bernd Koch, Managing Director of DLG International. "And we want to bring decision-makers from West and East Africa together with our exhibitors."
Jens Kremer, business developer at DLG, adds: "The economic potential for innovative agricultural technology for sustainable plant production in Africa is steadily increasing. We would like to be part of the positive development in this region and thereby support German and international companies with suitable mechanization concepts to open up these emerging markets. Because here, too, we want to support the region in the advancement and modernization of agriculture, true to the principles of the DLG."
Martin März, Fairtrade's founder and CEO: "For several years politicians and decision-makers have stepped up their efforts to expand and modernize agriculture and food production in sub-Saharan Africa, and the international community is ready to support this development. The decline in oil revenues led to a revival of local production and the "made-in ..." trend. Double-digit sales figures show that sub-Saharan Africa is investing heavily in agricultural and processing technology for the purpose of increasing yields, reducing immense post-harvest losses and reducing imports. Experts expect Nigeria and Ethiopia to become the major food producers in West and East Africa, respectively, and look forward to a very promising medium-term development, as the largest food markets in Africa are still under-supplied.
Since we have been working in Africa for twenty years, we recognized the enormous potential there at an early stage and have solid market knowledge. In the meantime, Fairtrade is one of the most important providers of agrofood trade fairs on the African continent. We look forward to further developing the agro trade fairs of our events in close cooperation with DLG as the world market leader for agricultural fairs, in order to make them even more attractive to exhibitors and trade visitors.”
This new cooperation combines the complementary strengths of Fairtrade as a proven Africa trade fair expert and the DLG as an agricultural organization and organizer of international agricultural trade fairs.
For more information:
Agrofood Ethiopia: www.agrofood-ethiopia.com
Agrofood West Africa: www.agrofood-westafrica.com
Agrofood Nigeria: www.agrofood-nigeria.com
Fairtrade Messe
Sarah Nitsche
Kurfürsten-Anlage 36
D-69115 Heidelberg
Tel +49 / 62 21 / 45 65 22
s.nitsche@fairtrade-messe.de
www.fairtrade-messe.de
DLG
Jens Kremer
Tel +49 / 69 / 24788-404
j.kremer@dlg.com