Port of Spain, July 19th 2013 – The Caribbean Research Development Institute (CARDI) and the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Co-operation (CTA) have launched their third Regional Excellence in Agricultural Journalism Awards this time under the theme “Achieving Food Security through Regional Cooperation”. Journalists from across the Caribbean are invited to participate, by submitting their best entries.
The inaugural competition in 2011 focused on reporting on ”Food and Agriculture Issues” while the 2012 Media Awards were on “Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Sustainability’. Both Media Awards attracted a high calibre of entries from journalists in the print, electronic and on-line media.
According to CARDI, journalism in agriculture has a crucial role in information exchange, awareness building and improving understanding of food and agriculture issues.
The Media Awards competition encourages journalists and producers to probe the challenges and opportunities for improving food and nutrition security in the Caribbean thus raising the level of awareness on the important role of agricultural research, training and rural development.
The Awards are intended to help journalists and producers to deepen their understanding of agriculture issues, to probe opportunities and innovation in the Caribbean, and to continuously improve interaction between the agricultural industry and the media.
It is anticipated that the Awards will be an additional incentive “to enhance awareness of food and nutrition security issues among Caribbean citizens,” said Dr. Arlington Chesney, CARDI’s Executive Director. “Through these Media Awards and several other media targeted activities by agricultural institutions we have witnessed an increase in the reporting of agriculture related stories in the media, greater participation of journalists in agriculture activities and an increased awareness and willingness by agricultural scientists on the need for timely submission of news to media,” the CARDI official added.
Since 2006, CARDI has been working with the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on several initiatives aimed at strengthening information dissemination within the agriculture community and linkages with the media.
This Awards target full time and freelance journalists working with print, new media, radio and television and cover work published or broadcast during the period September 2012– June 2013. Submissions for entries close on Friday, September 06, 2013, winners will be announced on Friday 20, September, 2013.
Categories for submission are:
Excellence in Print Journalism
Excellence in Radio Journalism
Excellence in Television Journalism
Excellence in online and digital media
Youth/Citizen entry
There will be one overall winner in each category. The winners will each receive a cash prize of US$1,000, a commemorative plaque and a round trip to Guyana to attend the Awards Ceremony on 9 October, 2013.
About CARDI
CARDI was established by the Heads of Governments of CARICOM in 1975 to serve the agricultural research and development needs of the 12 Member Countries within CARICOM. As the only regional agricultural institution identified in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Institute has a critical role to play in the implementation and co-ordination of key Technology and Information Systems (TIS). CARDI, through national consultations in Member Countries is impacting on the regional food basket through commodity programmes – small ruminants, sweet potato, and other root crops, cereals and grain legumes, hot peppers and fruits and vegetables. Its Mission is to contribute to the sustainable development of Caribbean people by the generation, transfer and application of appropriate technologies through agricultural research for development
Website: http://www.cardi.org
About CTA
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities. CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.
Website: http://www.cta.int/en
