C Rural Poverty and Agriculture

Although an estimated 75 per cent of the world’s poorest people live outside urban centres, the story of rural poverty, and the issues facing farmers in these areas, are chronically under-reported.  Perceived to have few day-to-day developments on which to base a news story, their struggles can seem irrelevant or inconsequential to media consumers in rapidly urbanising communities. 

Overview

Thomson Reuters Foundation works with journalists to show how rural development is a story that matters to everyone, spanning science, climate change, business, politics and social innovation. 

We equip reporters with the skills to tell the story of rural development to news consumers in their own countries.  It is in these countries that climate change impacts have been felt strongest, and yet most policy makers and ordinary people do not know about it. 

But it is also in these countries where exciting and broad-ranging solutions are being developed.  Areas such as access to credit or insurance, new collective farming initiatives and innovative crop enhancements are just some of the developments that often go under the radar of mainstream media.

Top Highlights

Since 2011, and with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) we have helped over 210 journalists from five continents, coming from as far afield as Tonga, Uzbekistan, Paraguay and Benin, to improve their core knowledge of the rural development issues.  We have run 16 workshops around the world, in countries including: Bangladesh, Brazil (at Rio +20), Columbia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Indonesia, Italy (at the IFAD Governing Council), Paraguay, South Africa and Tanzania.

About Media Development

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is committed to fostering the highest standards of journalism worldwide. We believe accurate, impartial and independent journalism leads to better-informed societies. It holds power to account, strengthens the rule of law and contributes to economic and social development.

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