The result of the ICT4Ag media competition organised by CTA was announced during the closing ceremony by the chief judge Maria Protz, on Thursday 7 November. Joshua Masinde of Kenya won the First Prize.

In the run-up to the conference, young journalists from ACP countries were invited to submit articles on the conference theme. There were over 100 submissions. The best six were selected as semi-finalists and invited to the conference. They are:

• Inoussa Maïga (Burkina Faso)
• Joshua Masinde (Kenya)
• Alain Georges Lietbouo (Cameroon)
• Arison Mbuli Tamfu (Cameroon)
• Sandra Margaret Chao (Kenya)
• Fidelis  Zvomuya (Zimbabwe)

Each had to produce four different pieces during the course of the week. A core panel of judges used a robust set of criteria to evaluate the stories based on journalistic quality, creativity and originality, relevance to ICT innovation, use of research and evidence to support their story, among others considerations. It was a daunting process, but in the end six semi-finalists from the ACP regions were selected and they were all busy in Kigali submitting their final entries.

The ICT4Ag media competition ended on Thursday 7 November at 10 am. The result was announced that very evening during the closing ceremony of the conference.

Joshua Masinde of Kenya won the First Prize trophy which was handed over to him by the European Union’s newly appointed Ambassador to Rwanda, Michael Ryan. Joshua is from Kenya where he works as a business and economic affairs journalist for the Daily Nation, the leading newspaper in East and Central Africa. His interests include but are not limited to the financial markets, agriculture, the stock market, the economy, the banking sector, foreign exchange, enterprise and personal finance.

The second prize was awarded to Arison Mbuli Tamfu of Cameroon. Arison currently works as African Correspondent for Malaysia MSME News Network, an online news portal. He has also been reporting for the News Network since 2012. In addition, he is the Cameroonian-based Editor for Cameroon Journal, a daily online publication based in the USA. Prior to joining MSME News Network and Cameroon Journal he worked with Equinoxe TV and Radio as Editor-in-Chief of the English service.

The third Prize was awarded to Fidelis Zvomuyu of Zimbabwe. Fidelis began his career in 2000 with the BBC. In 2003, he moved to South Africa, where he joined Caxton Magazines as a senior health journalist. He helped in the setting up of a health and environment desk and went on to become the company’s environment and agriculture editor for five magazines and a daily newspaper. He also worked for several media houses in Zimbabwe and Swaziland and covered issues on the environment, agriculture and climate change. From Caxton, Fidelis moved to Agriconnect Communication Media, where he is the editor responsible for, agricultural, environmental and development issues. He is also founding editor of an online media house Africa Green Media.

 

Once again, through the ICT4Ag media competition, CTA has helped to raise the bar for quality journalism that is evidence-based, factual, timely, and with strong human interest. Many think agriculture is demeaning and boring. But the truth is that agriculture can indeed by very “newsworthy and exciting”. It is in fact full of drama. There is no shortage of angles or hooks that savvy journalists can use to create high impact stories that will not only rivet readers, listeners and viewers, but which can also create lucrative niche areas for journalists that are trying to create names for themselves if they too are willing to think outside the box.

The best pieces produced during this final week of competition will soon be included in a special dossier of Spore, CTA’s flagship magazine.

The wait is over! CTA is delighted to announce that the six finalists in the ICT4Ag media competition have been selected.

Inoussa Maïga, Joshua Masinde, Alain G. Lietbouo, Fidelis Zvomuya, Arison Mbuli Tamfu and Sandra Chao will be joining us in Kigali from 4-8 November. These young journalists will contribute to the media coverage of the conference with the top three winners announced at an awards ceremony during the week.

In total CTA received 108 entries to the competition, 79 of which were in English and 29 in French. The international judging panel noted the high standard of competition and admitted that it was challenging to determine the overall winners.  They also found that several journalists highlighted new ‘ICTs-for-agriculture’  initiatives in ACP countries making them a ‘must-read’.  

For the first time this year, the CTA media competition did not select winners on a regional basis. Instead all journalists who entered competed against each other as a whole. Moreover, entries were only accepted in the form of print or online journalism.

About the finalists

Inoussa Maïga from Burkina Faso is a professional journalist. Since March 2013, he has worked as an independent consultant. His aim is to approach journalism from a different angle, placing the focus on the opinions, feelings and know-how of the farmer. Inoussa is a member of GRAF and holds the position of Secretary General of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso and Agricultural Communicators ( ABJCA ) and Deputy Secretary General of the Network of Journalists for responsible and sustainable fisheries in Africa Western ( REJOPRAO). He also writes a blog, Googol Farmer ( http://googolfarmer.wordpress.com/)

Joshua Masinde comes from Kenya where he works as a business and economic affairs journalist for the Daily Nation, the leading newspaper in East and Central Africa. His interests include but are not limited to the financial markets, agriculture, the stock market, the economy, the banking sector, foreign exchange, enterprise and personal finance.

Alain G. Lietbouo is young online journalist from Cameroun. Since 2011, he has worked as a content manager at CYNOMEDIA, editor of the online newspapers, journalducameroun.com, journaldutchad.com. journaldebrazza. com, journaldugabon.com, and journadebangui.com. He is also a correspondent for the central Africa African daily online newspaper afrik.com.

Fidelis Zvomuya is from Zimbabwe. He began his career in 2000 with the BBC. In 2003, he moved to South Africa, where he joined Caxton Magazines as a senior health journalist. He helped in the setting up of a health and environment desk and went on to become the company’s environment and agriculture editor for five magazines and one daily newspaper. He has also worked for several media houses in Zimbabwe and Swaziland and covered issues on environment, agriculture  and climate change. From Caxton, Fidelis has moved to Agriconnect Communication Media, where he is the editor responsible for, agriculture, environment and development issues. He is also founding editor of an online media house Africa Green Media.

Arison Mbuli Tamfu from Cameroun currently works as African Correspondent for MALAYSIA MSME News Network, an online news portal. He has also been reporting for the News Network since 2012. In addition, he is the Cameroonian-based Editor for Cameroonjournal, a daily online publication based in the USA. Prior to joining MSME News Network and Cameroonjournal he worked with Equinoxe TV and Radio as Editor-in-Chief of the English service.

Sandra Chao is a Kenyan based science journalist currently working with the Nation Media Group. She is accredited by the Media council of Kenya and is currently attached to the Africa review desk (africareview.com). Sandra is passionate about reporting stories on health, agriculture, environment, science and technology with a bias in human interest pieces.

CTA wishes all its finalists good luck and a productive experience at the ICT4Ag international conference.

The media competition is now closed.

The top six finalists will be announced in September, 2013. The six finalists will be fully supported to attend the international conference on ICT4ag in Kigali, Rwanda. They will also each receive Euro 1,000 (one thousand) prize.

During the conference, the six finalists will be asked to write an original article based on one topic discussed during the conference, taking into account expert opinions case studies and arguments.

The top three “Winners” will be announced during the international conference on ICT4ag. They will be selected based on the above mentioned criteria. The overall “Winner” – 1st place, will receive an additional Euro 1000. The second place winner will receive an additional Euro 500. The third place winner will receive an additional Euro 300. The top 3 “Winners” will also receive CTA trophies and book prizes.

The prize giving event will take place on 7 November 2013 in Kigali, Rwanda, during the International Conference on ICT4ag.