IFAJ President Steve Werblow and Secretary-General Adrian Bell followed the March IFAJ Mid-Year Executive Meeting with visits to several guilds in Africa. Their travels were funded by a grant from Syngenta through the IFAJ Global Network Partnership program. Guilds welcomed Werblow and Bell and used their visits to convene meetings and workshops across the continent.
Bell met with guild leaders in Benin, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. While in Benin, he met the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, as well as representatives of the National Foundation for Agricultural Development (FNDA) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC).
During his visit to Liberia, Werblow spoke at a full-day media workshop hosted by the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists’ Network (LAEJN). He also met with the nation’s Minster of Agriculture and deputy minister and leaders of a wide range of government, United Nations and NGO organizations.
Jefferson Massah, LAEJN Executive Chairperson, described Werblow’s visit as a milestone for agricultural journalism in Liberia.
“It has provided us with a unique platform to engage with international experts, strength our networks, and improve the capacity of our members to cover agricultural and environmental issues more effectively,” Massah said.
He added that the visit was not only an opportunity to learn from international best practices, but also a call to action for local journalists to continue to advocate for effective agricultural policies.
From Liberia, Werblow traveled to Uganda to participate in a meeting of the Uganda National Agricultural Journalists Association (UNAJA), which brought almost the entire membership together in Kampala from around the country.
“I am extremely happy in particular as President of Uganda National Agricultural Journalists Association (UNAJA) for the funding support provided by Syngenta, which made our meeting and Steve’s journey a success.,” said Williams Moi Arimo. “Without a helping hand from Syngenta and Global Network Partners Program, we couldn’t have held a meeting, neither do much to promote our Association.”
In Kenya, Werblow met with leaders of Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) and joined Congress organizers in meetings with the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Director General of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, and staff of research and development-oriented NGOs.
Werblow and Aghan also promoted agricultural journalism and the upcoming IFAJ Congress—which will be held in Kenya in October—in 90 minutes of live, morning television interviews.
“Steve’s visit to Kenya authenticated that MESHA is part of a global network and will put our partners on a global stage,” said Aghan Daniel, secretary and CEO of MESHA. “He created enthusiasm and helped bring emphasis to our proposals, and developed a better understanding of how agricultural journalism works in Africa.”
Future Opportunities
Werblow said Bell’s vision and close work with Syngenta created a partnership dedicated to strengthening guilds around the world.
“Syngenta truly understood what Adrian was presenting, and came on-board with a strong commitment to inject energy and opportunity into guilds around the world—particularly the ones we haven’t had much contact with,” said Werblow.
The Global Network Partnership Program kicked off last November when Werblow and IFAJ Vice President Addy Rossi participated in a workshop hosted by the Mexican guild, AMEXMA. Rossi is slated to visit guilds in both member and non-member countries in Latin America in coming months, and IFAJ Treasurer Magda du Toit will travel from her home in South Africa to visit guilds in southern Africa.
“Since we were in Africa for the Executive meeting, we took advantage of the opportunity to focus March and April on African guilds,” Werblow added. “But the Global Network Partnership is truly global. We are eager to boost the work of guilds wherever they are, making them—and, as a result, IFAJ—more active and vital to the careers of our members.”
Steve Werblow of IFAJ and Estelle Liberty and Jefferson Massah of the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN) meet Liberia’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah (left).
Steve Werblow and members of the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN) met with Registrar General Lwopu Kandakai (in green) and staff of the country’s Cooperative Development Agency.
Steve Werblow and members of the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN) pose with a team from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the capital city of Monrovia.
More than four dozen agricultural journalists, communicators, and dignitaries opened a day-long ag journalism workshop held by the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN) on March 26.
IFAJ President Steve Werblow delivered a talk on IFAJ to a full-day workshop on agricultural journalism held by the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN) on March 26.
Estelle Liberty and Jefferson Massah of the Liberia Agricultural and Environmental Journalists Network (LAEJN); Steve Werblow, president of IFAJ; and the staff of the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) met to discuss innovative partnerships.
IFAJ President Steve Werblow met with the Uganda National Agricultural Journalists’ Association at the home of secretary-general Moses Hategeka in Kampala.
(From left): Steve Werblow, president of IFAJ; Dr. Kipronoh Ronoh Paul, Principal Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development; Philip Keitany, chairman of MESHA’s 2025 IFAJ Congress Organizing Committee; and Violet Otindo of MESHA and the Organizing Committee met in Nairobi.
MESHA board members and other organizers of the upcoming IFAJ Congress in Kenya met with Steve Werblow in Nairobi on April 3.
Kenya’s TV47 host Anne Odida (right) interviewed MESHA secretary/CEO Aghan Daniel and IFAJ president Steve Werblow on April 1 in an hour-long live broadcast that covered agricultural journalism issues and the upcoming IFAJ Congress in Kenya.