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Friday, 21 October 2011 07:38

CTA-NEPAD Photo and Essay Competitions Winners Announced

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CTA NEPAD Essay and Photo Contest winnersIt is with great pleasure that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) announce the winners of the Photo and Essay competitions that have been organized to celebrate NEPAD’s 10th Anniversary. This competition also falls in the framework of CTA activities on youth, women and ICTs.

The winners of the Photo Competition “Looking at ICTs, agriculture and climate change in Africa through the eyes of women and the youth”, who will be awarded with a prize of € 800, are:

For the category “Youth/women, ICTs and entrepreneurship”

  • Mr. Jean-Paul Luesso Amuri, from Congo (Central Africa), with the photo titled "Quartier Nord de Bujumbura"
  • Mr. Herbert Lwanga, from Uganda (East Africa), with the photo titled Rural Women, Renewable Energy and ICTs
  • Ms. Thoko Chikondi, from Malawi (Southern Africa), with the photo titled Mustard leaf vendors
  • Mr. Ikenna Mbakwe, from Nigeria (West Africa), with the photo titled Women, ICTs and entrepreneurship

For the category “Youth/women, ICTs and climate change”

  • Ms. Thoko Chikondi, from Malawi (Southern Africa), with the photo titled Irrigation at Mpiru field

Due to the poor quality of entries, the jury decided not to award the prizes for the other regions in the category “Youth/women, ICTs and climate change”.

 

The winners of the Essay Competition “Looking at ICTs and agriculture in Africa through the eyes of women and the youth”, who will be awarded with a prize of € 1000, are:

For the category “Women and ICT in agriculture”

  • Mr. Tapfumaneyi Mutenda, from Zimbabwe (Southern Africa).

His essay describes his experience in carrying on his Sunday radio show, which became popular in many rural villages in Zimbabwe. Through the questions posed by the listeners it emerges a colorful picture of both the current use of ICTs in agriculture and the expectations that these means of communication bring.

  • Mr. Paulin Tsafack Nguena, from Cameroon (Central Africa).

His essay tells us the story of Michelle Touré, founder of the Virtual Growth Company, a digital enterprise which supports agricultural projects in rural areas of Cameroon.

  • Mr. Tuyishime Norbert, from Rwanda  (East Africa).

His essay depicts a case study of a woman involved in Irish potato production in Rwanda and how ICT, in the form of a mobile phone is helping improve her business revenues.

  • Mr. Traore Inoussa, from Burkina Faso (West Africa).

This essay tells the story of Lizet, a young 28 years old woman that lives in a village in the South of Burkina Faso. The use of mobile phones applications helped her improving her economic activity and at the same time enhancing her status as woman.

For the category “Youth and ICT in agriculture”

  • Mr. Admire Mare, from Zimbabwe (Southern Africa).

His lively story tells us about a family of farmers in the Mushandike Irrigation Scheme, in Zimbabwe, and how the use of mobile phones is significantly making the difference in improving their livelihoods.

  • Ms. Comfort Moussa, from Cameroon (Central Africa).

Her essay tells us the experience of Tantoh Dieudonne Nforba, a farmer specialized in spring water catchment protection and agro-forestry, founder of a nonprofit organization called "Save Your Future Association" (SYFA). What strikes is his ability in using various kinds of ICTs – from mobile phones to emails – to improve his job.

  • Mr. Robert Koigi Muthoni, from Kenya (East Africa).

His essay is the success story of Zack Matere, who became a vegetable and potatoes farmer after graduating in Business Administration. He suddenly realized the power of ICT in agriculture one day, when, thanks to the Internet, he found the solution to a disease that attacked his potatoes.

  • Mr. Solomon Elorm Allavi, from Ghana (West Africa).

His essay describes his experience as young agricultural entrepreneur and founder of an ICT startup company in Ghana. His company, which is almost two years old, operates to implement market-driven ICT solutions to address the limited access to marketing outlets for smallholder farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain.

In addition, the jury agreed to give a special mention to:

  • Mr. Bertrand Joël Foe Eloundou, from Cameroon (Youth and ICT in agriculture).

For his essay on the integration of ICTs and marketing of horticultural products in Benin, in the difficult context of climate change.

  • Mr. Wasike Noah Wamalwa, from Kenya (Women and ICT in agriculture).

For his essay about MFarm, a Kenyan ICT application that uses mobile phones to connect farmers with suppliers and cooperatives.


The award ceremony will be held during the NEPAD’s 10th Anniversary Symposium (date to be confirmed later). The winners and the two additional participants are invited to take part to the event.

A qualified jury, composed by independent African experts in the field of communication, ICTs and agriculture, had the difficult task to choose the best entries among 85 photos and 124 essays.

The jury was composed by:

Photo competition

  • Ms. Therese Burke (Marketing Officer, CTA)
  • Ms. Nonhlanhla Kambule Makgati (Journalist and Photographer)
  • Ms. Rosalie Lo (Head of Gender Programme, Nepad)
  • Mr. Olaf Hammelburg (Independent consultant)

Essay competition

  • Ms. Dorothy K. Gordon (Director-General, Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT)
  • Mr. Balraj Rajkomar (former Senior Lecturer, University of Agriculture, Mauritius)
  • Mr. John Kaninda (Journalist)

The best participants to the competition will have the opportunity to participate to the CTA ARDYIS (Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society) project.

The winning photos and the essays will be made public in due time.

 

The best participants to the competition will have the opportunity to participate to the CTA ARDYIS (Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society) project.


For more information:

Email: Contact M. Ken Lohento This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Web: Announcement of the competitions

 

Last modified on Monday, 14 November 2011 05:00
 

Focus

ICT and Youth in Agriculture in Africa (Report)