With generous support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the IWMF launched "Reporting on Agriculture and Women: Africa." The project energized the way African media cover one of the most important topics on the continent.

The IWMF helped African journalists to boost coverage of agriculture and rural development and increase women’s voices – both as journalists and as sources – in stories about agriculture

The IWMF is working on ground-breaking research on the status of women in the media worldwide. The new study, the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media, will measure the career progress of women in the news media and use the results to help advocate for change.

The IWMF also tracks past studies on women in the news media, and will draw from this prior work in compiling the Global Report, which will be published in 2011.

4-Year Africa Project

With generous support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, the IWMF launched "Reporting on Agriculture and Women: Africa." The project is energizing the way African media cover one of the most important topics on the continent.
The IWMF is helping African journalists to boost coverage of agriculture and rural development and increase women’s voices – both as journalists and as sources – in stories about agriculture

Voices from the Field #1

In his article, “Farmers Can Help Prevent Soil Infertility,” Times of Zambia reporter Stanslous Ngosa covers in detail declining soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Zambia. His article was published in the Times on March 27. Climate change and improper crop rotation are two of the factors believed to be contributing to soil infertility, Ngosa wrote. Among the sources he interviewed for his article are Mike Ng’uni, vice chair of an organic cooperative, and Estelle Munsitala, a woman farmer who uses a particular type of tree to improve soil fertility.

“I think it covers a very critical element of soil fertility that the media will not cover generally,” Zambia trainer Susan Musukuma wrote in an e-mail about Ngosa’s article.

Soil fertility is a major agricultural issue that is often overlooked, Musukuma wrote. Ngosa’s article arose from a Reporting on Agriculture and Women: Africa training session by Musukuma on aspects of agricultural production. In addition to raising public awareness of soil fertility issues, Ngosa’s article used a woman as a source, thus fulfilling one of the goals of the IWMF project.

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Voix du Terrain #1

Dans son article du 27 Mars, Les Agriculteurs Peuvent Aider à Prévenir l'Infertilité des Sols, écrit Stanslous Ngosa, Journaliste du Times of Zambia qui couvre en détail la baisse de la fertilité des sols en Afrique sub-saharienne, en particulier la Zambie. Le changement climatique et la mauvaise rotation des cultures sont deux des facteurs considérés comme contribuant à l'infertilité des sols, écrit Ngosa. Parmi les sources, qu’il a interviewé pour son article sont Mike Ng'uni, vice-président d'une coopérative biologique, et Estelle Munsitala, une agricultrice qui utilise un type particulier d'arbre afin d'améliorer la fertilité des sols.

"Je pense qu'il couvre un élément très critique de la fertilité des sols que les médias ne couvrent pas en général", écrit Susan Musukuma, formatrice de la Zambie dans un e-mail au sujet de l'article de Ngosa.

La fertilité des sols est un problème majeur de l’agriculture qui est souvent négligé, écrit Musukuma. L’article de Ngosa a survenu à partir d'un Reportage sur l'Agriculture et les Femmes: session de la formation en Afrique sur les aspects de la production de l’agriculture dirigée par Musukuma. En plus de sensibiliser le public concernant les problèmes de la fertilité des sols, l'article de Ngosa a utilisé une femme comme une source, réalisant ainsi l'un des objectifs du projet de l’IWMF.

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Voices from the Field #1

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