Kavango Trade Fair a hive of activity

THE recent Kavango Trade Fair has been described by most participants as ‘a resounding success’.

The four-day trade fair, which was held at the Old Sawmill grounds at Rundu from November 7 to 10, saw a large number of small-scale businesses from in and outside the region exhibit their goods and services. The Kavango Trade Fair was a hive of activity, with visitors coming in numbers to buy goods and get more information from exhibitors who came from different corners of the country.This year’s trade fair was different in that it included exhibitors involved in biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use, such as the Mudumu Landscape in the Caprivi Region. Mudumu Landscape comprises the Mamili/Nkasa Rupara National Park, Mudumu National Park and Kwando Core Area of the Bwabwata National Park, which is part of the Namibian Protected Landscape Conservation Areas Initiative (NAM-PLACE), a project which falls under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.’Besides implementing activities which assist in conserving biodiversity and sustainable land use practices, we also encourage communities within the landscapes to explore income-generating activities which are environmentally friendly,’ Uriakwao Matundu, the landscape specialist for the Mudumu Landscape, said in a telephonic interview with Nampa on Tuesday.This year NAM-PLACE facilitated the participation of two community campsites at the trade fair with the aim of assisting them in marketing their community-run tourist activities. The representatives of the community campsites travelled more than 500 kilometres to take advantage of the platform provided by the trade fair and gain exposure, create awareness about the existence of their campsites, and to test the market.’Namibians must promote what is in their country so that not only foreigners know about our tourism activities, but also locals so that they can support us,’ said Lucious Maezi, campsite manager at the Rupara Community Campsite.There are several community-run campsites in the landscape which are operated by local conservancies, with members of the conservancies employed to manage and oversee the campsites. The campsites are ideally located along the banks of the Kwando Linyati River to offer visitors a scenic experience, including a variety of wildlife and exotic bird species for bird-watchers. Nampa also spoke to Erasmus Bukulo, the enterprise officer at the Mayuni Community Campsite.’The trade fair has exposed me to people from different places and I have had to learn how to market the campsite, explain where it is and even encourage locals and not only tourists to visit and support us,’ Bukulo said.Visitors to the Mayuni stand, which recreated a real campsite with a two-man tent, were mainly interested in finding out about the location of the campsites and whether there are discounts available for locals.’The campsites are well managed I have to say. We hand in annual reports and regularly attend village meetings to create awareness about some of the issues the campsites face,’ Bukulo added.Looking ahead, he said he wants to see better infrastructure at the campsites in five years’ time which would help to bring the sites up to standard. ‘We need to develop the skills of our staff and this will help us to have qualified tour guides, maintenance officers and trained managers,’ he stated.Another challenge is the visibility of the campsites, as there are currently no clear signboards directing visitors to the campsites and not enough information on the location. Plans are in the pipeline to address this challenge and improve access to the campsites.Matundu indicated that it is very important that these community-based enterprises gain exposure as the proceeds of their success benefit the entire community.’We hope to assist them to take advantage of these and other such opportunities,’ he said, referring to the trade fair. – Nampa

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