AGROFAIR EXPOFRUITS, Friday and Saturday in Mariquita, Tolima

• On September 19 and 20, the north of Tolima will hold its annual fair, Expofrutas.

Tolima’s fruit-growing sector is celebrating, and deservedly so, as it is becoming one of the most important alternatives for agriculture in the department, following the decline of crops such as grain sorghum, sesame, tobacco, soybean, peanuts, and cotton, among others, which were once emblematic in a region known for its primary production, not to mention the difficult times currently faced by rice and corn/maize. Nevertheless, fruits, vegetables, and aromatic plants from small-scale family farming continue to persist, fighting and growing in some areas.

That is why the collaborative work between the Departmental Assembly, which created this annual event, the Government of Tolima, the Rural Development Agency (ADR, for its Spanish acronym), Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Agrosavia), Asohofrucol, the National Training Service (SENA, for its Spanish acronym), the municipalities of Tolima, and the producers represented by their delegates, this time with the support of the Mayor’s Office of Mariquita and several producers’ associations, among others, have enabled the AGROFAIR EXPOFRUITS to take place on September 19 and 20, an event to which all Tolima residents and Colombians are invited.

AGROFAIR EXPOFRUITS is a strategy to promote the integration and strengthening of the rural economy through spaces to exhibit and sell fruits, vegetables, and aromatic plants produced by farmers and ethnic communities belonging to producer associations based in the department of Tolima.

The organization of the event provides the necessary spaces for strategies such as commercial linkages and business roundtables, supporting direct marketing processes with both private and public buyers. In short, AGROFAIR EXPOFRUITS aims to be a meeting and negotiation space for producers and buyers to directly establish their business agreements, communication channels, delivery mechanisms, and payment terms.

On the first day, September 19, the event will be held at Calle 3 #3-49, Casa de la Segunda Expedición Botánica. In this location, the academic agenda will take place, offering a space to discuss the current state of Colombian agriculture from the voices of farmers and other actors, as a strategy for agricultural development with regional and national impact. Other topics will also be addressed, such as the tropical agriculture model, agricultural product marketing, and the legal framework recognizing peasants and ethnic communities as subjects of rights.

The fair, exhibition, and product marketplace will be held on September 20 at Plaza Mayor José Celestino Mutis in San Sebastián de Mariquita. The purpose of this event is to promote products from the rural areas of the department: fruits, vegetables, aromatic plants, handicrafts, and traditional peasant and ethnic cuisine. Within this context, interactive spaces will be created to learn more about the countryside and the practices carried out by our farmers, with the participation of children from schools with an agricultural focus.

Likewise, strategies to foster public-private partnerships and marketing channels for fruits, vegetables, and aromatic plants of the rural economy will be established. This is reason enough to invite entrepreneurs, wholesale buyers, and consumers of these products to join the Agrofair, learn about rural livelihoods, purchase products, and agree on business strategies.

When consulting some of the representatives of the institutions involved in the event, special highlights were noted: Sergio Andrés Rincón, Director of ADR in Tolima, emphasized the importance of inclusion and participation of Afro-descendant communities, associations of conflict victims, and Indigenous peoples.

Similarly, Lorenzo Peláez Suárez, Director of Agrosavia C.I. Nataima, stressed that Tolima is more than rice, more than coffee, more than livestock, more than fruit crops. Tolima has an enormous agrobiodiversity, and we must recognize that in terms of food security, we have much to rely on. “This has been a collective effort between institutions and producers; this strategy, AGROFAIR EXPOFRUITS, has been established as a means to reactivate us,” he stated.

Dear reader, all that is missing is your presence and participation. Each of us, without exception, can contribute to the growth of our department and our farmers. Let us accompany and enjoy the fair.