On 12-13 March 2019, the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has delivered on behalf
the FtF Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project a training on Policy Communications
to journalists in Nigeria’s National Assembly (NASS) Press Corps in Abuja.
The 22 journalists (20 male, 2
female) represented diverse news media firms, all united in their shared focus
on the activities of the country’s federal legislature. The training exposed them
to the basic principles of Policy Communications, publicly available and
accessible sources of information relevant to agricultural policy, other tools
for policy engagement such policy briefs or policy notes, and of course, social
media as a tool for effective reporting on policy issues.
Remarking on the training, James
Itodo, Deputy Chairman of the NASS Press Corps stated, “We appreciate your
effort at bringing us together. We also want to appeal that from time to time,
you engage us [journalists] on programmes like this, so that we can enhance our
productivity and improve the lot of Nigerians and other researchers also who
may want to use us to enhance agricultural productivity.”
This training forms part of the
various capacity-building activities of the Feed the
Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project. The project is funded by
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Nigeria) and
jointly implemented by Michigan State University and the Nigeria Strategy
Support Program of IFPRI.
