ASK show to be held after August polls

President Uhuru Kenyatta inspects livestock at the 2019 Mombasa ASK show at Mkomani grounds in Mombasa County. [Maarufu Mohamed, Standard]

Kenya's second-largest agricultural show, the Mombasa International Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK), is set to be held from November 2 to 6, 2022.

Mombasa ASK Show Chairman Anisa Abdallah said several stakeholders were engaged before arriving at the decision to hold the once-popular event in November.

"We have a general election in August which has been the traditional month for holding this annual event hence the new month of November," she said.

The show which has attained international status following the participation of foreign exhibitors was not held for two consecutive years as the country went into a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We worked closely with government agencies and kept in touch with all our exhibitors, briefing them on any developments during the lockdown and now that the economy has been reopened, we are good to go," she said.

Foreign exhibitors

At the same time, the chairman said during the recent 9th edition of AfriCities Summit in Kisumu, they did aggressive marketing to foreign exhibitors to woo them to showcase their products and services at the Mombasa fair.

Mombasa Show Head of Marketing and Publicity Kauli Mwembe said the event's theme is 'Promoting Innovation and Technology in Agriculture and Trade'.

"We are set to go big on the Blue Economy venture during the trade fair as we firmly believe that the Blue Economy is the next frontier after many years of showing our backs to the ocean and looking inland," he said.

Mwembe said they are identifying key partners in the Blue Economy sector who will help drive the agenda and ensure that its importance is clear to all showgoers.

He noted that since the event will be towards the end of the year, hoteliers and players in the tourism industry should also take advantage to showcase their attractions as they aim to tap on the long December holidays.

ASK Chief Executive Officer Batram Muthoka, in a separate interview, noted that a number of national show events will be held this year after easing the Covid-19 restrictions.

“We draw much of our income from the shows and one of the things that we picked as ASK from the suspension of fairs, we developed a very elaborate land-use masterplan. At Jamhuri Park (Nairobi County) we have a big convention centre. We have also developed plans for other counties, Mombasa included,” Muthoka noted.