Autumn has come to my part of the world, and though the weather is unusually mild it’s not as warm as it was when I visited our colleagues in India recently.
India was warm in several aspects. Our Indian colleagues gave me, Lindi Botha from South Africa, and Elida Thiery from Argentina, who joined me on the trip, a very warm welcome and took really good care of us.
It’s so interesting to visit colleagues in other countries and realize that even if our everyday life and our circumstances are different, we still have a lot in common. We all have deadlines, a devotion to our readers, viewers, and listeners and occasionally suffer from writer’s block. And we share our fascination for agriculture, whether it’s dairy, cultivation or forestry.
That’s what makes the global network in IFAJ so valuable. You meet colleagues and people who never get tired of speaking about cows, pigs, and fertilizers—and how crucial agriculture is—even in a high-tech society.
Besides my daily work as political editor in chief and my assignment in IFAJ I am also engaged in an educational project. I am something called “language pal” to a foreign journalist who has immigrated to Sweden and seeks a job in media here. Last year I supported a young woman from Brazil who eventually got a job at a regional TV station. My task was to meet and speak Swedish with her frequently. She also taught me a lot; we became friends and though the project is over we still meet sometimes.
This year I have got a new language pal, an agriculture journalist from Burkina Faso. We had actually met a couple of times already, thanks to our mutual friend Inoussa Maiga, who I got to know through IFAJ. The world is in a way small, but if you take advantage of the opportunity to network it makes your horizons and your preferences wider.
So, with so many friends and contacts around the globe I feel richer. Rich in knowledge, experiences, and friendship.
Lena Johansson
President
Also in this newsletter….
The Asociación Mexicana de Periodistas y Directores de Medios Agripecuarios (AMEXMA) is organizing a press tour and hosting the 2023 winter meeting of the IFAJ Executive 22 to 27 February in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
The IFAJ/Corteva Master Class Program provides training and networking through on-site streaming sessions, in-person classroom workshops, and assignments.
Start preparing for a great opportunity: to be chosen as the best in the world in your specialty!
Each IFAJ member guild can submit one nominee for the IFAJ/Alltech Young Leader Award. Applications will be due by January 30, 2023.
At the invitation of Alpha Ousmane Souaré of the Association Média et Agriculture pour le Développement Rural (AMEDAR/Guinée), a member of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, five (5) journalists from the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists (BGAJ) went on a journey of discovery and experience sharing in Guinea
One of IFAJ’s newest members is a federation formed by merging three associations in Nepal: The Nepal Agricultural Journalists Academy (JONAA), the Agricultural Journalists Society Nepal (SAJ) and the Agricultural Communication Society. Here’s how they did it.
We will encourage our member guilds to utilize the buddy system introduced at the IFAJ to get connected with other guilds outside of Africa. These efforts could mean a lot in driving our network stronger,” said network President Jefferson Massah.
“I can try and steer away from the cliches and fixed neat narratives often trotted out by public figures when they are talking about themselves and their lives, and try instead to shift the discussion slightly differently in the hope of peeling away a few more ‘layers of the onion’…”
We were welcomed with flower garlands, fed the most aromatic curry, brewed the best tea and treated to home made burfi wrapped in silver petals. If an opportunity to visit India ever arises, grab it with both hands!
Out of 15 communications skills listed in the survey, social media, multimedia production processes and video training ranked as the top three areas where IFAJ members wanted training.
IFAJ’s 2023 Congress, New Frontiers in the Wild West, hosted by the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation, will showcase the bounty and diversity of agriculture in the beautiful prairie province of Alberta, Canada. Mark your calendar: June 27 to July 3, 2023.
