A media practitioner and active member of the CABI-led Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Research and Learning in Africa (SAIRLA) Ghana National Learning Alliance (Ghana NLA) won the Best Agricultural Reporter in print award at the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) awards in Accra.
Ama Amankwaa Baafi impressed the judges with her story ‘Lack of Research Blamed for Fall Armyworm Invasion’ , which, published in Ghana’s leading newspaper the Daily Graphic, sought to draw the attention of government and high-level decision makers to the role agricultural research can play in helping to improve agricultural productivity.
Ama, who was among 36 journalists recognised for their ‘outstanding work and contribution to national development’ in 2017 during the 23rd GJA awards, said she gained most of her story ideas from her involvement in SAIRLA Ghana NLA activities and other CABI engagements.
She has been an active member of the SAIRLA Ghana NLA having participated in almost all of the NLA’s programmes and activities since it was launched in February 2017. These included workshops and field visits on topical issues affecting sustainable agricultural intensification such as fall armyworm incidence and pesticides use, alternative protein feed sources for livestock, and gender and climate-responsive investments. Following her involvement in these programmes, Ama published several articles in the Daily Graphic on related issues.
Another media participant of the SAIRLA Ghana NLA, Christian Akorlie also won an award in another category: Best Reporter – Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
Part of the SAIRLA programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the goal of the Ghana NLA is to make research evidence on sustainable agricultural intensification available and utilised by decision makers. The aim is to help deliver policies and investments that ensure poorer farmers, especially women and youth, benefit from agricultural development programmes in Ghana. The project is facilitated by CABI with support from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research policy research institute (CSIR-STEPRI).
Additional information
Read Ama’s award-winning article published in the Daily Graphic ‘Lack of Research Blamed for Fall Armyworm Invasion’
Find out more about the CABI-led Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Research and Leaning in Africa (SAIRLA) Ghana National Learning Alliance (Ghana NLA).