DU, Katalyst team up in agriculture journalism

A specialised course on agriculture journalism will be introduced at Dhaka University, assisted by the agriculture development project, Katalyst.

Prof Md Kamal Uddin, treasurer of DU, and Marcus Ehman, general manager of Katalyst, signed a memorandum of understanding at a ceremony at the vice chancellor's office yesterday.

“The inclusion of agriculture journalism in journalism education is a timely intervention. This will strengthen the media's role in supporting the development of agriculture, the mainstay of our economy,” AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice chancellor of DU, said in a statement.

The media play an important role in improving the situation of poor farming communities and reducing poverty by providing practical and useful information, Katalyst's Marcus Ehnam said.

“In order to build future media activists to cover agriculture, Katalyst extended its cooperation to support agriculture journalism education.”

Katalyst will cooperate in curriculum development for the undergraduate students of the Department of Television & Film Studies (DTFS) to boost agricultural journalism, the statement said. This will include teacher orientation, demo classes, reading materials development, workshops and academic exchange.

William H Allen, a professor of agriculture journalism at University of Missouri, has already developed a course curriculum and a handbook in consultation with academics, agriculturists, media professionals and students under the guidance of the DTFS.

Prof Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, chairperson of DTFS, and Ashfaque Enayetullah, Katalyst's cross sector head, also attended the signing ceremony.