As part of the culmination of B4FA’s three-year programme, B4FA welcomed eighteen African journalists from our four focus countries – Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda – to London and Cambridge for one week. In addition, the leaders of thirteen projects funded by the John Templeton Foundation joined the journalists to discuss their projects that seek to answer the question “Can GM Crops Help to Feed the World?”
B4FA Media Fellows at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, By Julia Vitullo-Martin (Back, L to R: Paschal Bagonza, Mohammed Kandi, Isaac Khisa, Michael J. Ssali, Dr Chris Leaver, Salimat Garba, Adelaide Arthur, Samson Kamalamo, Kenneth Azahan, Charles Benoni Okine, Akinwunmi Kole-Dawodu, Lominda Afedraru, Leon Bahati, Abdallah el-Kurebe, Dr Willy de Greef, Prof Walter Alhassan, Leonard Magomba; FRONT, L to R: Said Mmanga, Noah Nash, Samuel Hinneh, Finnegan wa Simbeye, Sarah Mawerere)
The highlight of the week was a celebratory luncheon at the House of Lords on 9 April. The event was hosted by Lord (Ewen) Cameron who is deeply engaged in agricultural matters and food security.
Lord Boateng with Mohammed Kandi and Charles Benoni Okine at the House of Lords, By Julia Vitullo-Martin
Over 150 people attended, including a number of Ambassadors and High Commissioners, about 60 young African students from Cambridge and Reading, African diaspora and others deeply involved in African matters.
Lord Cameron was very well placed to speak about African agriculture, and after Lord (Paul) Boateng’s superb introductory speech Bernie Jones (Director of Media, B4FA) and Sir Brian Heap (Project Leader, B4FA) described the work of Biosciences for Farming in Africa (B4FA).
In the course of the week, the B4FA Media Fellows from Africa seized the opportunity to learn more about research, politics and media in the UK through visits to the John Innes Centre, the Sanger Institute/Wellcome Trust, the NIAB Innovation Farm, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, the BBC and a fruitful discussion with the Cambridge African Network.
Dr Peter Emmrich of the John Innes Centre discusses grass pea research, By Julia Vitullo-Martin
The B4FA Media Fellows also listened to lectures by leading experts in plant science and policy, including Prof Diran Makinde (NEPAD), Prof Chris Leaver, Dr Willy de Greef, Dr Claudia Canales-Holzeis (B4FA), and Dr David Bennett. The journalists were joined throughout the week by their colleagues and journalism mentors, Julia Vitullo-Martin and Sharon Schmickle.
At the gala dinner at St. Edmund’s, Cambridge, several of the B4FA Media Fellows were also recipients of B4FA awards for outstanding reporting:
Lominda Afedraru – Bioscience reporting – Uganda
Adelaide Arthur – Broadcast reporting – Ghana
Paschal B. Bagonza – Radio reporting – Uganda
Abdallah el-Kurebe – In-depth reporting – Nigeria
Isaac Khisa – Business reporting – Uganda
Akinwunmi Kole-Dawodu – Spot reporting – Nigeria
Said Mmanga – Local language reporting – Tanzania
Photos: Julia Vitullo-Martin
