Harmattan Awards for Development Journalism launched

A multimedia organization, Countrywise Communication Ghana has launched its maiden awards scheme at Nyankpala in the Northern region. The Harmattan Awards for Development Journalists is aimed at stimulating journalists’ interest in promoting development journalism and agriculture as business in the Northern part of the country. Speaking on the theme: “The role of the journalists in promoting agriculture as a business”, the Executive Director of Countrywise Communication Ghana, Raymond Vuol said the harmattan awards scheme will encourage journalists to show interest in agribusiness reporting. “The harmattan awards scheme is seeking to encourage journalists to develop and renew their interest in development and agribusiness reporting aimed at improving the welfare of poor and smallholder farmers with the ultimate aim of helping them leap out of poverty in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Interested journalists would be required to file their stories and works in line with the guidelines. Countrywise Communication will in the first year of the awards give incentives in the form of tablets,  phones and certificates to the award winners. “It is our hope that with this incentive from Countrywise Communication Ghana, our respected journalists will begin to take keen interest in development reporting especially around issues affecting the agriculture value-chain,” Raymond Vuol said. On his part,  the Northern Regional Coordinating Director,  Alhaji Alhassan Issahaku assured the company of their support for the sustainability and expansion of the scheme to award more journalists in the area of agriculture. He appealed to journalists to tone down the sensational stories around partisan politics and give prominence to other areas that badly need their attention. Countrywise Ghana is a multimedia corporate organization working towards promoting agriculture production and rural development in Ghana. By Shaharan Mohammed |3news.com]]>