Minnesota, USA – Liberian journalist Moses Bailey has won the 2019 IFAJ/Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award.
Bailey reports for Radio Gbarnga and The Bush Chicken. He is also the partnership manager for the Liberia Agricultural Journalists Network.
Bailey was presented the award along with nine other young journalists on Saturday night at the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) 2019 Congress in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
The IFAJ annually honors agricultural journalists and communicators who demonstrate outstanding achievements in reporting as well as excellent potential as leaders of the agriculture industry in their home countries.
IFAJ is a Canadian based umbrella organization of guilds and associations of agricultural journalists and communicators with membership covering 50 countries in South America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, among others.
The organization gives agricultural journalists and communicators a platform for professional development and international networking.
Bailey was nominated for the award earlier this year through the Liberia Agricultural Journalists Network, the IFAJ’s guild in Liberia that is working with a poll of journalists to report agriculture and help farmers with extension information.
Bailey has meanwhile dedicated the award to all Liberians as a wakeup call to get more involved in agriculture to lift the country out of poverty and food insecurity.
“We dedicate this award to the people of Liberia as a symbol of motivation to invest in the soil more than we have ever done. Our land is fertile and has the ultimate potential of lifting us out of poverty, only, if we make the best use of it,” Bailey told this paper.
Bailey hailed the coordinator of the Liberia Agricultural Journalists Network, Jefferson Massah, for nominating him for the awards this year.
Massah, a media developer, attended the Master Class of the IFAJ in the Netherlands in 2018. His participation at the event gave rise to the full recognition of the Liberia Agricultural Journalists Network by the IFAJ as a member of the organization.
This year, Massah attended the IFAJ Congress in Minnesota as an executive member of the organization’s strategy development plan committee.
He wants Liberian journalists and media institutions begin to place more attention to promoting agriculture-educating the public about food security and the economic benefits of agriculture to the nation.
The Journalist also indicated the training with IFAJ has further inspired him to pursue more stories around agriculture development in Liberia, particularly issues pertaining to smallholder farmers.
He also promised to ensure knowledge transfer of some of the skills acquired during the course of the training with colleagues in the community radio sector in Liberia.
Other recipients of the awards are; Prince Appiah of Multimedia Group, Ltd., Ghana, Kasey Brown of Angus Media, United States of America, Marzell Buffler of Landmedien Deutschland in Germany, and Melissa Dahlqvist of Swedish Agro Machinery in Sweden.
Seedy Darboe of the Network of Ag Communicators of The Gambia, Louise Denvir of RTÉ in Ireland, Abi Kay of Farmers Guardian in the United Kingdom, Samantha Tennent of Dairy NZ, New Zealand, and Angus Verley of Australian Broadcasting Company in Australia also received awards.
Prior to receiving the awards, the Young Leaders participated in a Boot Camp including professional development and networking workshop and farm visits in southern Minnesota during the IFAJ Congress.