The small South African town in the middle of nowhere that hosts the largest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere
The small town of Bothaville in the Free State is home to only 41,650 people, but welcomes 80,000 visitors each year for NAMPO, the largest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere.
NAMPO Harvest Day has been hosted annually in Bothaville since 1974, with the town and this show serving as cornerstones of South Africa’s agricultural industry.
Today, Bothaville is known as the Maize Capital of South Africa, but when it was established in 1891, it was considered a “Church Town”.
The land on which Bothaville was founded was originally inhabited by the Bushmen, followed by the Lehoyo Tswana tribe in the 15th and 17th centuries.
White settlers arrived in 1852 to take up permanent residence, and established Bothaville as a “Church Town” in 1891.
Initially, there was some debate over what the town should be named, with one group led by Johannes Rust preferring “Overwinning”.
However, this attempt was unsuccessful, and in 1893, the Free State People’s Assembly settled on the name “Bothaville”.
From there, the town started to expand, with a police station, prison, two Dutch Reformed Churches, and a town hall built between 1894 and 1951.
Bothaville also received municipal status in 1913. Around this time, the town began to gain renown for its strong agricultural sector, with maize production in particular putting it on the map.
By 1995, Bothaville had received the moniker of “Maize Capital of South Africa”, a role it has held ever since.
The town’s maize sector has benefitted from its location in the so-called “Maize Quadrangle”, which encompasses parts of the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West, and Gauteng.
Today, Bothaville is a powerhouse of local food production, specialising in maize, sunflower, sorghum, and peanuts.
NAMPO in South Africa’s Maize Capital
Bothaville has continued to earn its nickname as South Africa’s Maize Capital, producing between 550,000 and 700,000 tonnes of maize every year.
This means the small town accounts for 5% of South Africa’s total yearly maize output. However, its contribution to South Africa’s agriculture industry does not stop there.
Every year, it also hosts NAMPO Harvest Day, the largest privately owned agricultural exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.
Now welcoming 80,000 visitors annually, NAMPO has been held in May in Bothaville every year since 1974.
The exhibition is hosted by Grain SA, which represents 13,700 grain producers across the country.
The first NAMPO was held on a farm near Bloemfontein in 1967. It was organised by the Maize Producers’ Institute and attracted 200 producers.
In the years that followed, NAMPO continued to be held on different farms each year until it reached a scale that required a more permanent location.
This is where Bothaville stepped in. In 1974, the town opened NAMPO Park, a permanent venue that has hosted the exhibition every year since.
Today, NAMPO is a huge commercial and technological expo that hosts 750 exhibitors and 80,000 visitors.
Originally, NAMPO focused only on maize producers, but it has since expanded to encompass the entire agricultural sector.
Grain SA describes NAMPO as a diversified trade exhibition where producers can compare a wide range of products and services.
NAMPO also hosts high-level exhibitions that offer direct access to a wide range of specialists and experts across various fields.
“Grain SA strives to keep NAMPO trade-oriented as an agricultural and trade exhibition with a specific focus on agriculture and not on entertainment and the exhibition of flea market items,” it said.
“Grain SA’s NAMPO is dynamic, and each year the organisers strive to keep pace with the changing needs, requirements and expectations of producers and role players in the agricultural sector.”
“The Harvest Day is also regarded by Grain SA as one of the best contributors to ensuring sustained food production in South Africa as well as Southern Africa.”
Photos of Bothaville and NAMPO
