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Sydney Kawadza Mashonaland West Bureau
The 72nd Edition of the Mashonaland West Chinhoyi Agricultural Show kicked off yesterday with at least 10 000 people expected to attend the annual extravaganza attracting ordinary Zimbabweans, the corporate world, Government departments and State-owned enterprises.

The show, running under the theme; “Building the Gross Domestic Product of Mash West”, was previously known as the Chinhoyi Agricultural Show and was rebranded last year to reflect its provincial outlook.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mashonaland West Show Society general manager Mr Brian Vengayi said the show will be officially opened by Minister of State for Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Mary Mliswa-Chikoka.

“Our show this year will start on the 8th of August, which will be Thursday and end on the 11th, that is on Sunday,” he said.

Mr Vengayi said yesterday and today were business days. “On Friday, we have a show stand judging from 9am and we also have an agricultural conference for our farmers who will be residing here. Friday night we will have our exhibitors’ cocktail,” he said.

“On the final day of the show, we will have a musical show where a number of artistes, including popular Zimdancehall musician Jah Signal and T. Gonzi, will perform. We have a very wide range of entertainment lined up for the show goers, including the ZRP Band, Zimbabwe National Army band, acrobats, police dogs, motor bike displays and others,” he said.

Mr Vengayi bemoaned the economic challenges being experienced across Zimbabwe, leading to a low uptake of stands among exhibitors. “We are yet to confirm the numbers, but so far the last time I checked there was a 70 percent uptake, but I am sure we will have more exhibitors as we are aiming around 80 percent occupation,” he said.

Mr Vengayi said the show’s theme was directly linked to Government’s devolution and decentralisation initiatives. He pledged to host a memorable show where Zimpapers (1980) Ltd’s Nyaminyami FM and Star FM will be hosting crossover shows from the show grounds.