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The media should take practical steps to report more on the environmental and agricultural interventions to help monitor the effectiveness of development programmes within the Sadc region, a development activist says. Ms Doreen Shumba-Mnyulwa, director of the Regional Agricultural and Environmental Innovations – Africa (RAEIN Africa) told journalists recently to participate actively in assessing the effectiveness of interventions and technologies addressing food security, climate change and environment to help the Sadc region develop effective instruments for sustainable development.
“The media has a critical role to play in reporting on sustainable development activities,” she said.
“You must take the lead on impact reporting and bring out challenges and the potential of innovative interventions.”
The media workshop that drew participants from the Sadc region was aimed at exploring the role of the media in sustain- able development and highlight their potential in strengthening the voice of the public and creating space for public participation in sustainable development.
The workshop also sought to enhance the capacity of journalists to report on new and emerging technologies as well as critiquing development interventions to inform policy makers and smallholder farmers who are the key actors in sustainable development.
“Media can play a major role in knowledge sharing. Knowledge not shared is lost,” Ms Shumba-Mnyulwa said.
“As media we tend to spend a lot of time reporting on negative things, but we also need to capture the positive things that are also coming from interventions in our communities.
“We need to play our part to share our findings on agricultural and environmental interventions to inform policymakers and our leaders on the appropriateness of development interventions in our communities.”
Critics of development interventions have over the years castigated some NGOs for imposing development interventions that were are not appropriate for local communities and that failed to improve the livelihood of the rural poor.
RAEIN Africa is a regional network that supports various scientific and technological interventions to respond to food insecurity, environmental, climate change and policy challenges facing local communities in the Sadc regions.
It has implemented a number of projects that foster innovation and development of interventions that enhance poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Online Reporter