Investing in Agriculture Future Agricultures Media Competition 2013

Future Agricultures Media Competition 2013

Deadline: 8th February 2012

The Future Agricultures Consortium and PLAAS are inviting journalists and media specialists to enter a competition for reporting on the politics and processes that influence agricultural investment in Africa.

The entry deadline is 8 February 2013 and the winners will be supported to attend our major conference on the Political economy of agricultural policy in Africa, which takes place in South Africa in March 2013.

• Download the details: Future Agricultures 2013 African media competition (pdf, 502kb)

Applicants must submit their entry in English only by email to b.ouma@future-agricultures.org. Your journalistic piece must reach the organisers by no later than 8 February 2013 to be considered for inclusion in the competition.

Winning entries

The best print and best audio journalistic piece will be selected using established criteria. The top two finalists will be announced on 1 March 2013 by email or phone. These two finalists will be fully supported (flights, visa and accommodation) to attend the international conference on “Political Economy of Agricultural Policy in Africa” in South Africa, hosted by Future Agricultures and the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS). Winners will each be presented with a certificate of recognition during the conference. In addition, the finalists will be invited to attend the launch of FAC Africa.

Besides the winning entries, the top 10 selected pieces will be published and promoted regionally, internationally and on the FAC website.

Competition themes

This media competition aims to encourage journalists and media specialists to explore some of the factors that determine agricultural investment patterns in Africa.

Providing case studies and evidence from your home country, your journalistic piece should correspond to one of the following themes:

• Investing in agriculture: Only a few countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Malawi) have met the Maputo declaration commitment to invest 10 percent GDP in agriculture. With agriculture the backbone of the African economy, why is it that African governments do not invest more in agriculture for the benefit of their economies?
  
  What are the political pressures leading African governments to increase investment in agricultural development? Do these favour smallholder agriculture or large-scale farming, food staples or export crops, state-led or private sector-led models, investment in public goods or transfers (such as subsidies)?

• Influencing policy - the role of civil society: How can a civil society organisation have an influence on agricultural policy making?
  
  Using one or more examples, explore how CSOs can be effective in getting issues onto the policy agenda, influencing how policies are shaped (either from an external position, or by being involved in the policy making process), and/or how they can assist in making sure that policies are properly enacted on the ground. What are the key strategies for CSOs in being effective in influencing policy; why do they succeed or fail?

• BRICS investment in Africa: How are investments from China and Brazil and other ‘rising powers’ having an impact on African agriculture? And what impact will they have in the future?
  
  What investments are Brazil and China making in agricultural production systems in Africa? What is their scale, nature (public and private) and focus? Are these investments supporting pro-poor development, and if not, how should governments respond to this?

Conditions of entry

Each candidate will submit only one print (in Word doc or docx format) or audio piece (in mp3 format) from any African country. Any accompanying photos for print articles should be sent as jpegs. The title and the name of the author should be clearly written on the cover page to the piece, or details included in email with audio piece. Thedeadline for receipt of submissions is 8 February, 2013.

Note: if you have difficulty submitting your audio piece by email, you can use YouSendit (www.yousendit.com) or a similar free internet service.

All applications should submit a short biographical note including name and full contact details; email address, telephone number(s), postal address, town, country, and a scanned photocopy of the applicant’s passport. Entries received after 8 February will not be considered. Notification of approved selections will be announced on 1 March 2013.

Selection process

A panel of judges from the Future Agricultures Consortium, WRENmedia, and Nick Perkins, Scidev.Net director will review entries and make their recommendations to the Steering Committee for the Conference.

The pieces should demonstrate that the author(s) understand the issues outlined above.

The main selection criteria for the pieces are:

• Originality and quality of analysis;
• Creativity (use of relevant case studies and examples to illustrate the issues);
• Relevance and responsiveness to development challenges;
• Quality of language (engaging writing style, good spelling and grammar, etc.);
• Presence of bibliography and/or other relevant references;
• Respect of the prescribed format:

Number of words/duration:

Print: max 1,200 words.
Audio pieces should not exceed 5 minutes.

Print format:

• Font : Arial size 11 - Line spacing: 1.5
• NB: If an entry has already been published or broadcast, the date of publication/broadcast must be included on the submission. Only original pieces that have been prepared after the announcement of this call will be considered.

Additional rules

• FAC reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it does not meet the contest criteria and present regulations.
• By entering, participants warrant that their print/audio materials are original and do not infringe on any third party's rights;
• Entry to the contest constitutes an agreement to allow FAC to make articles/audio pieces, name, occupation and state of residence of applicants, public;
• In addition it constitutes an agreement to allow FAC to use the material in its publications and in the framework of promotional activities. Applicants will retain ownership and all other rights to future use of their texts;
• FAC will not be able to return submitted articles/audio to their authors;
• If, for any reason, the competition is not completed as planned, FAC reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend it;
• The decisions made by the panel of judges are final and beyond dispute;
• All participants in this competition implicitly accept the rules presented in this document.

Email address for submissions:

b.ouma@future-agricultures.org

Download all these details as a PDF document:

Future Agricultures 2013 African media competition (pdf, 502kb)

Reblogged from  http://www.future-agricultures.org/media-comp-2013

They Gave A Shit, Got Awarded

#IGiveAShit     #WTD2012

In 2001, a Singapore businessman Jack Sim, toyed around creating an organization that would address the issues that every human passes around in their lifetime. It wasn’t that of hunger or access to water which are claiming lives globally but that of sh*t.  Yes, human shit. He founded the World Toilet Organization with the aim of bringing to light issues affecting sanitation in developing countries. Eleven years on, his efforts seems to be bearing fruit.

More than 2.5 billion people in the world don’t own a toilet. This means that they defecate in the open and during heavy downpours, their shit gets drained in to the all available water sources resulting water pollution, spread of waterborne diseases and subsequent deaths. This is what led to the creation of World Toilet Day celebrated on 19^th November   by close to 19 counties with the aim of raising global awareness on the struggles facing the area of sanitation.  This year’s theme seems so straight to the point, I Give a Shit do you?

          

Closer home sanitation is still a big issue we have to deal with.  Only 74% of households in Kenya have toilets, 62% being in the coast region with 40% of these households being in Kwale. Taita Taveta happens to take lead with 95% households having toilets.

This has resulted to increased awareness creation by Plan international Kwale in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation Kwale. Through their Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) model which is founded on three key words Shame, Fear and Disgust, they have managed to trigger – villages in Kwale County. Nevertheless, some villages are yet to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

But that isn’t the case with Mrihi wa Bibi and Mtasyvani villages

                                    Mrihi wa Bibi one of the ODF certified villages

In 2010, these villages became ODF under certification of Government officials’ and Plan staff from Uganda, Zambia and Ethiopia. You wonder how they achieved such a hefty goal.

“We helped each other in building of toilets” recalls one of the villagers

This helped them pool up their energies which in turn ensured all village members had latrines to dispose their waste

Two more years down the line 6 more villages (Kivingoni, Makombe, Mkandamuzo, Tuu, Vuzo and Mazimalumi) out of the 13 have been ODF certified. They have been practicing the same model and its results are more than anticipated. In CLTS every member of the society is involved in the sanitation process, the children, the parents, the government officers and non-governmental organizations. No wonder the wide array in attendance during the celebration day at Msulwa primary school.

  

A village member receiving the ODF certificate on behalf of the village

Speaking during the event, the assistant District commissioner drew a relation of CLTS with the Kenyan independence goal of Eradicating poverty, ignorance and hunger.  When a community is educated on sanitation issues, ignorance departs them paving way for the fulfillment of other goals. He further stated that the government of Kenya had set the deadline of June 2013 by when all villages should be ODF.

“Build according to your ability. Any materials will suffice as long as your poo gets down to the ground and you can conduct the process without fear of being seen by others” he continued. He shifted the theme to “I care my toilet, our health” to make it suit more the surroundings. Most community members were still ingesting faeces from the fact that some still hadn’t their toilets and hence defecated in the open. Despite the challenges of loose soil in areas of Tiwi which crumbles the toilets with time, he urged the communities to be united as even then would donors come in to help them in case of such difficulties.

 His Parting shot: Our health, our responsibility. My health, your responsibility. Your health, my responsibility 

Personally I give a shit, do you?