Journalists urged to highlight nutrition challenges facing African children

Journalists have been asked to use their tools to address agriculture and nutritional challenges facing African  communities.

Francis Hale, the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Continental Director for Policy Advocacy and Communications, pointed out that the media has largely sidelined crucial subjects like nutrition and agriculture.

“The media has an important and special role that needs to be fully utilised in influencing policy on agriculture and nutrition, particularly for young children,” said Hale during a one-day training session for journalists and community leaders in Kiambu County.

The training under the theme ‘Theatre for Policy and Advocacy (TPA) for Child Nutrition’ drew local and regional participants from various fields to deliberate ways of improving nutrition for children and advocating for policy changes by African countries.

Calling for a paradigm shift in news coverage, Hale noted that a lot of focus has been placed on politics, entertainment and sports at the expense of key societal issues like agriculture and nutrition.

“Incidentally, agriculture and nutrition are not very attractive subjects to the media and, to a large extent, the general populace compared to things like soccer or politics, but these are the drivers of economies and have a bearing on future generations,” said Hale.

Media, he noted, can lead and influence policy advocacy by highlighting issues that prick the conscience of governments and communities into action geared towards improving nutrition particularly for infants.

Owing to global climate change, the expert said projections indicate that in the not very distant future, agriculture will be the leading source of wealth because food will become scarce and very expensive.

“Thanks to changing global climate, in a few years to come, food production will become too costly and those who invest in agriculture will reap astronomically huge profits,” stated Hale while urging media practisioners to highlight this reality.

Additionally, he noted that those who invest in organic farming will be reaping big in future as consumers continue to avoid genetically engineered consumables, or chemical-dependent food products.