Sunday, September 26, 2010

AGFAX Network – September 2010

Congratulations to Leke!

Our congratulations and very best wishes go to Adeleke Adeyemi, a Better Science Reporting participant based in Lagos – he’s getting married on October 9th. We don’t know anything about the lucky lady – maybe he’ll send us a photo from the special day!?

More news from the Agfax Network

Bernice in America – but looking to make links in Nigeria

Bernice Agyekwena, a Ghanaian writer who attended a Better Science Reporting workshop in Kumasi earlier this year, is now studying for a year at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, part of the University of California.

About her course, she writes:

“Some of the issues that have been raised in class include why there is so much food insecurity in Africa. The reasons that have come up are many; from the effects of colonialism to international trade that forces African countries to concentrate on cash crops like cocoa, forcing them to put large tracts of land under cash crop cultivation to the detriment of domestic food production. Other issues like the land tenure system of some parts of Africa, ethnic conflicts, drought and floods and climate change have been mentioned. Even some conditions put in place by the International Monetary Fund which have forced African countries not to subsidise agriculture have been sited as one of the reasons why agricultural productivity is low.

Another thing the class has been looking at is how Africa is being portrayed by the media and how most people have a distorted view of Africa; that Africa is a land of disease and poverty filled with ignorant people who are always fighting. They are calling for a more balanced reportage of Africa that will give people a true picture of what actually exists. “

That point is very pertinent for AGFAX – we have a responsibility to be reporting accurately, and helping to correct the distorted picture by highlighting the positive work being done in Africa.

Request for help in Nigeria

Bernice writes:

“I am considering Nigeria's presidential initiative on cassava as one of the areas to research on. I have downloaded some information from the internet on the issue, but I am a bit apprehensive about going to Nigeria. I hear they are hostile to journalists and I do not know how much cooperation I will receive from other journalists to help me with my research.”

If you think you can assist Bernice, or give her some advice, please get in touch with her. Her email address is anice732001@yahoo.com .

And if you want to keep in touch with how she’s doing, her blog address is http://berniceagyekwena.wordpress.com


Winnie Onyimbo – busy, busy, busy!

“I am doing the online FARMRADIO course and script writing competition and it is exciting and very engaging. I also got the Cancun climate change fellowship in Mexico coming up in November/December. On another note, I re-aired programs that I had done some time back - the Agfax that featured Cancer in Africa - on a new radio station called Imani in western Kenya and there were several responses on that. People asking questions and requiring more information on cancer. There is one particular lady who called to say that she listened to the program and went to hospital to have some suspicious lumps checked and she was told that it was cancerous. She is starting treatment this week!”

That final part of Winnie’s message shows what an impact our reporting can have – and also demonstrates that the benefits or outcomes from our work may continue for much longer than we realise. Thanks Winnie for sharing it with us!

And congratulations also to Joy Ful, editor of The Farmer’s Voice in Cameroon, who has also been selected to attend the Cancun meeting.


Eric Kadenge – a convert to agricultural reporting

“I think my agricultural work with WREN has shaped my career as a development communicator and also increased my passion for agricultural reporting and more so, the desire to see rural farmers earning for their hard labour. It has also contributed to my academic development. I am working on my thesis whose topic is: The role of radio and the cell phone in enabling rural farmers to access timely and reliable market information.”

Thanks Eric – and good luck with the thesis!


Yinka Olawode – an aspiring script writer with a secret plan

Yinka has been funded by the British Council to attend a script writing course, but has plans to do more than just write dramas.

She writes: “I am interested in script writing because of my desire for creativity. I also believe strongly that in the near future I would be reporting science on screen or perhaps produce science programmes, preferably docu-dramas, so that it would appeal to a wider audience, especially very young ones. Could also be good instructional materials on latest science research for students, especially as related to agriculture, and entertaining but intellectual programmes for scientists and farmers.

Getting people excited about watching it would be easy with what I'm learning on screenplay development. The lecturers are from the University of London. They are really good, but they don't know yet that I have plans beyond the regular dramas.”


George Kalungwe – babies, blogs and biotechnology

Congratulations to George and his wife Bertha for the birth of their first born, a baby boy Narai (God is great) on August 7th.

And George has been pretty busy with work as well:

In July he attended the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) Workshop on Effective Reporting of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and its role in socio-economic development, in Nairobi. He writes, “The most critical thing I learnt at ATPS workshop was blogging. I had personal chat with a Zambian reporter who taught me how to blog as a beginner. Now I am posting my articles on: http://journalistgeorgekalungwe.blogspot.com/
https://georgekalungwe.wordpress.com/

“Among other we learnt about ways of strengthening science-based media peer networks/association to enable them play bigger roles in improving the quality and quantity of science reporting on the continent. The other thing I will advance from the training is the formation of a network of Malawi agriculture and science reporters at least by the end of this year.”

While in Nairobi George also attended the a monthly session of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology which centred on the issue of stewardship; in other words how stakeholders developing biotechnology can police themselves other than being regulated by governments. He has also been invited to Burkina Faso on a BT Cotton Study Tour organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter to be held from November 8-12, 2010.


Domfeh at the World Cup – if you don’t know him, he’s standing next to the bored/tired man in the yellow shirt!



Tips and techniques

Hooks –wait for them or make them?

Editors love them, listeners respond them, journalists work to them: hooks give our stories relevance and interest value. The hook is the reason why the story should be covered at all, why now and may even determine how you cover it.

Hooks come from the calendar e.g. World Food Day coming up on October 16th.
Hooks come from the news and current affairs. E.g. latest food price rise.
But sometimes you have to make your own hook!

Take cowpeas - an annual legume that is one of the most ancient crops known to man. A crop that is massively important to people, livestock and the rural economy in Africa, Asia and South America. So?

Later this month in Senegal there will be the 5th global conference on cowpea science with hundreds of scientists and their stories. So what?
To generate interest, the organisers of the conference had to create some hooks.

They are presenting the sights (cowpea crops and farmers’ stories), sounds (music and culture) and tastes (restaurant event of different dishes) of cowpeas as well as the latest science. AGFAX network member Busani Bafana will be there and we will be hearing what hooks grabbed him in AGFAX in the coming months.

So what does this mean for us as journalists? As well we being reactive to the hooks we are given, have an eye or an ear for what you can do proactively to create the hook for your own reporting.

Finally, don’t forget to hook our interest if you have a story for AGFAX.


Opportunity: African radio producers wanted

Radio Netherlands Worldwide is looking for radio producers in Africa who are interested in making long documentaries for them.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has been producing background radio programmes (30 minutes in length) for Africa for the past 10 years. Rencontres et Profils in French (http://www.rnw.nl/afrique/radioprogramme/rencontres-et-profils) and Africa in Progress http://www.rnw.nl/africa/radio-program-list/22703 in English. The audio is made available on CDs and then mailed to hundreds of partner radio stations on the continent. Electronic links are also provided.

The programmes are co-ordinated by Helene Michaud in the Netherlands. And she also produces and presents a few editions a year of both programmes herself.

RNW needs more young, dynamic producers in Africa for Africa in Progress. The aim is to produce 55 programmes per year.

There are two formats: the long profile interview and the package. For packages they want speakers from at least three different ( African) countries. That is why it is often easier for producers to attend international conferences or seminars on themes that are of interest to us.

After vetting the theme and focus for the programme, RNW expects the producer to produce an entire programme, including recording the interviews, editing, scripting, presentation and mixing.

If you are interested to find out more you can contact Helene Michaud by email: Helene.Michaud@rnw.nl

More blogs – to nourish the planet

You might want to subscribe to Danielle Nierenberg’s ‘Nourishing the Planet’ blog. The blog runs a weekly newsletter, which has interesting stories about agricultural development written in a very reader-friendly format. Each newsletter includes an innovation of the week, and she also writes good profiles of lesser known crops – you could find some good ideas here for your own reporting, or for AGFAX.

Go to http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/ to sign up for the newsletter.


And Finally…

Journalists briefing scientists – what do we need to tell them?

We are used to the idea of scientists briefing journalists on their work. But if you are interviewing a scientist for AGFAX, what do you need to tell them to help them make the best of the opportunity?

We are putting together a list of top tips of how to get the best from scientists and researchers – what would you put on your list? Send us your thoughts and we’ll compile a comprehensive guide!


We hope you enjoy reading this latest collection of news and updates – please let us know what you think, and if you have useful tips or resources for our next edition, send them and we’ll share them!

All the best,

Susie and Mike
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AGFAX is radio resource pack produced by WRENmedia

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