A.H. Boerma Award winners

2010-2011
	Javier Blas
	Javier Blas is a leading commodities writer for the Financial Times (United Kingdom) whose reporting not only focuses on market analysis but also on the implications of food price volatility on food insecurity in developing countries. Writing for the FT has allowed him to reach out to a global audience, including market participants and key international policy makers. His coverage of recent surges in food prices has contributed to placing the world food problem on the political agenda. His reporting since 2007 has frequently addressed issues of core concern to FAO, such as hunger and food security, the impact of food prices in the developing countries, the role of speculation and bioenergy production in the food price matrix, and overseas investment in agricultural land.

2008-2009

Laetitia Clavreul

Ms Clavreul has been writing for France’s prestigious newspaper, Le Monde, in the field of economic affairs. Ms Clavreul’s writing has gone a long way towards raising awareness about issues related to food production and agricultural and rural development. In writing about economic and political issues affecting developing countries, she has frequently emphasized the critical role played by smallholder farmers. Her work seeks to identify and make sense of principal trends in food production and world agriculture, and their impact on economies of both developed and developing countries.

Shykh Seraj

With almost thirty years of experience in the Bangladesh media, Mr Seraj has worked as a print and broadcast journalist, presenter and producer on many television programmes, exploring the problems faced by farmers and rural communities. It has been said that Mr Seraj’s programmes ‘give voice’ to farmers by bringing their problems to the attention of policy-makers and government. Mr Seraj introduced a live broadcast to enable farmers to join his programmes from remote areas and is currently working to break the digital divide by setting up an e-agriculture initiative to disseminate agricultural information to an ever wider audience.

2006-2007

Elisabeth Rosenthal

Health, science and environment correspondent for the International Herald Tribune/New York Times newspapers, Ms Rosenthal has covered the avian influenza crisis from the onset of the disease in 2003 and unlike many other journalists who have covered this topic, she highlighted the human and animal health issues at the same time as well as the potential economic effects of the disease, including the effect on local and national food security. FAO acknowledges the substantial contribution that this journalist has made to a global awareness about avian influenza and other issues related to human and animal health and food security.

Hany El Banna

An Egyptian journalist and publisher specialized in agricultural development, El Banna represents an authoritative and dynamic force for agricultural information and data in the Near East region and his stories frequently draw on FAO as source material. Through his writing and the dissemination of his monthly publication entitled, the Agricultural Magazine, Mr Banna has helped to focus public attention in the Arabic speaking countries of the Near East on food problems as they relate to agricultural and rural development.

2004-2005
	Giampaolo Cadalanu
	A journalist and field reporter for Italy's largest selling and most influential daily newspaper, La Repubblica, Giampaolo Cadalanu has over the last ten years written regularly about development issues from places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Croatia. His work has drawn attention to subject matter that does not usually find space in major newspapers, including the right to food, and his reporting has played an important part in making FAO’s scope and activities better known in Italy.

		Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman
		As writers for one of the world's leading business newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, Thurow and Kilman are two of the most widely-read correspondents covering agricultural trade and food issues today. Their reporting has made an important contribution to development-related reporting in the North and the South and has helped raise the level of media coverage of issues of concern to FAO.

2002-2003
	Marcelo Canellas
	One of Brazil's most well-respected documentary film makers and journalists, Marcelo Canellas received the 2002-2003 Boerma Award for bringing tough and often sensitive issues to primetime television. His work has had a powerful impact -- both among politicians and ordinary viewers. In 2001 he made a series of five documentaries on the causes and effects of hunger in Brazil. Some 35 million people viewed the documentaries, which were credited with influencing political thinking on the issue.

David Brough

British journalist David Brough, the Rome bureau commodities correspondent for the international news agency Reuters, was the second recipient of the 2002-2003 Boerma Award. Mr Brough reports on commodity markets in Italy and on the work of the three Rome-based food agencies -- FAO, the World Food Programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. His articles have increased understanding of complex food and agriculture issues, highlighting how the UN agencies battle world hunger. Through his reporting he has not only brought major development issues to the fore but has also increased the general public’s understanding of FAO’s work.

2000-2001
	Jim Clancy
	Anchor and correspondent for CNN International, Jim Clancy won the 2000-2001 A.H. Boerma Award for his contribution to increasing public awareness of the diverse problems facing the African continent. Mr Clancy's vast international knowledge and understanding of the problems faced by developing societies has expanded the scope of CNN's international coverage. His programme, Inside Africa is the only international television news programme focusing on the issues that confront that enormous and culturally varied continent.
See also Q&A: Jim Clancy, Boerma Award winner, talks about his work

	Palagummi Sainath
	The second winner of the Boerma Award for 2000-2001 was the Indian freelance journalist, writer and photographer Palagummi Sainath. Mr Sainath was the first journalist in India to highlight the impact of misguided policies on food security and poverty, and he has changed the nature of the development debate in the Indian media. Having written several books, numerous articles and built up the largest photo archive on rural livelihoods, Mr Sainath has helped focus public attention on important aspects of the world food problem.
See also Q&A: Palagummi Sainath, Boerma Award winner, talks about his work

1998-1999
	Patrick Luganda
	Ugandan farmer, radio journalist and writer Patrick Luganda received the 1998-1999 Boerma Award for his important contribution to increasing public awareness of food security issues in Uganda. Through his articles in the newspaper The New Vision and weekly programmes on Radio Uganda, he has significantly raised the level of agricultural knowledge and skills among farmers by promoting improved farming methods. The Boerma Award acknowledges, in particular, a series of programmes that provided valuable technical information to farmers for restoring production after a devastating virus hit the country's cassava crops.

Alain Zolty as chief editor of Afrique Agriculture

The second winner of the Boerma Award for 1998-1999 was Alain Zolty as chief editor of Afrique Agriculture, a monthly magazine that has facilitated the comprehension of food and agricultural issues in the world. Distributed in more than 30 countries, the magazine has run special issues on agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry with particular emphasis on Africa and North-South cooperation. With its large international audience, it has helped mobilize public support for FAO's work to promote global food security.

1996-1997
	Association of Food and Agriculture Journalists (AFAJ)
	The Association of Food and Agriculture Journalists (AFAJ) of Kenya won the 1996-1997 A.H. Boerma Award in recognition of the 35 members' strong commitment to the coverage of food, agricultural and environmental issues. The association was selected particularly on the basis of its successful water hyacinth weed multimedia campaign, which raised international awareness of the threat to food security posed by the water hyacinth weed in Lake Victoria. Alfred Omondi, Chairman of AFAJ, received the award on behalf of the group.
See also Q&A: AFAJ Chairman Alfred Omondi talks about the association's work

	Inter Press Service (IPS)
	The 1996-1997 Boerma Award was also presented to the Inter Press Service (IPS), an independent association of journalists based in Rome, for their dedication to covering sustainable agriculture and rural development in more than 100 countries. Since it was founded in 1964, IPS has become the leading news agency covering development issues. IPS journalists cover events that are not normally covered by other media organizations, and focus on issues such as rural living, migration, refugees and the plight of women and children. The award was accepted by IPS representative Roberto Savio.
See also Q&A: Roberto Savio, one of the founders of IPS, talks about the agency's work

1994-1995
	Fawzia El-Moualled
	The 1994-1995 A.H. Boerma Award was given to Fawzia El-Moualled of Egypt for her strong commitment and significant journalistic contribution over the past 40 years to development issues, particularly with regard to the rural population. Ms El-Moualled has produced thousands of radio programmes on agricultural development for the Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation. She has written 15 books and 70 papers on the mass media's role in promoting sustainable development, family planning, the fight against drought and other development issues.

Michael Pickstock

Having covered the work of FAO for 30 years, journalist Michael Pickstock from the United Kingdom received the 1994-1995 A.H. Boerma Award for his dedication to agricultural and environmental issues. As producer of the BBC's The Farming World and founding producer of World Radio for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Pickstock has made a significant contribution to improving public awareness and understanding of agriculture in developing countries.

1992-1993
	Franceline Oubda
	The 1992-1993 Boerma Award was presented to Franceline Oubda, a journalist of the national television network of Burkina Faso. Her television series, Women and Development, looks at the major economic, social and cultural development problems from the standpoint of the rural women of Burkina Faso. The programme has encouraged greater awareness and recognition of women's contribution to development.

1990-1991
	Sanitsuda Ekachai
	Bangkok Post correspondent Sanitsuda Ekachai received the 1990-1991 A.H. Boerma Award. Well known throughout Southeast Asia for her critical and perceptive work on the plight of the region's rural populations, Ms Ekachai received the award in recognition of her extensive writing on the impact of industrialization on agriculture in Thailand, focusing especially on the role of rural women.

Christophe Naigeon

Christophe Naigeon, French journalist, director and chief editor of several French-speaking journals, received the 1990-1991 A.H. Boerma Award for the creation of the first agricultural news information network in French, the Système francophone d'information agricole. The network, covering more than 30 countries in Africa, is a major contributor to the flow of information between North and South and focuses public attention on food and development issues in developing countries.

1988-1989
	Federico Fazzuoli
	Italian television producer Federico Fazzuoli was given the 1988-1989 A.H. Boerma Award for his television programme Linea Verde, broadcast on RAI, the Italian national television. The programme's in-depth coverage of a wide range of environmental, food and agricultural-related problems has helped create public awareness in Italy of FAO's continuing struggle against hunger and malnutrition in the world.

1986-1987
	Hiroyuki Ishi
	The A.H. Boerma Award for 1986-1987 was given to Hiroyuki Ishi, correspondent for the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, for his more than 20 years of coverage of the problems related to food and agriculture. His series of articles on the African food crisis raised public awareness in Japan of the urgent need for increased assistance to Africa as a response to drought and famine.

	Victor Bracamonte
	Victor Bracamonte, the Peruvian journalist and writer for El Comercio in Lima, received the 1986-1987 Boerma Award for his many articles on the importance of growing local crops. The articles helped to create greater awareness of the need for small farmers to grow and market local goods, thus improving nutrition and increasing food production and rural income in Peru.

1984-1985
	Claire Brisset
	After writing about the malnourished and underprivileged in renowned French-language journals for many years, the French journalist Claire Brisset won the 1984-1985 A.H. Boerma Award. Originally a staff member of Le Figaro, Ms Brisset moved on to Le Monde before becoming one of the founders of La Tribune de l'économie, where she was covering the North-South dialogue and development issues when she received the award.

Mohamed Amin

The A.H. Boerma Award for 1984-1985 was also given to journalist, cameraman and television producer Mohamed Amin of Kenya for his widely televised news coverage of the 1984 Ethiopian famine, and for his documentary film on the food crisis in Africa, entitled African Calvary - Uncertain Redemption. Mr Amin's footage, which reached millions of homes worldwide, proved so compelling that it became the catalyst for the "Live Aid - We Are the World" campaign. Mr Amin was killed aboard a hijacked Ethiopian plane in 1996.

1982-1983
*The Farming World, a BBC World Service Programme*
The BBC World Service radio programme The Farming World won the 1982-1983 A.H. Boerma Award. Since 1958 The Farming World programmes on agriculture and on problems of food production, malnutrition, poverty and agricultural development have been broadcast worldwide. Reaching an audience of 80 million listeners, The Farming World has played an important role in raising world awareness of the issues central to FAO's mandate. The award was received by David Dixon, producer of The Farming World.

1980-1981
	Lester R. Brown
	Originally an agricultural economist, Lester R. Brown of the United States was awarded the 1980-1981 A.H. Boerma. His work, going beyond reportage, explores the moral issues of hunger and focuses on the disparity between rich and poor, within and among nations. Mr Brown was the founder and the first President of the Worldwatch Institute, a research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues, and he was given the award on the basis of his many publications on food insecurity and natural resource problems in the world.

1978-1979
	Lasse and Lisa Berg
	Lasse and Lisa Berg of Sweden were awarded the first A.H. Boerma Award in 1978-1979. Mr and Mrs Berg came to journalism via studies in political science, economics and sociology. They have travelled widely and produced numerous books, articles and radio programmes about development issues and the problem of hunger. They were given the award on the basis of an extensive article, "World Hunger: there is food enough for all but the poor cannot afford it", which appeared in the Swedish Weekly Vi in June 1978.

Anil Agarwal

A science and environmental writer, Anil Agarwal of India was selected as a winner of the 1978-1979 A.H. Boerma Award on the basis of a cross-section of articles on agriculture and development, which appeared in publications such as The New Scientist, The Economist and People. Coming from a mechanical engineering background, Mr Agarwal became a science journalist and carried out much of his reporting in the field, especially in Asia. Mr Agarwal later founded the Indian Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).