A Fellow of the MFWA’s 2022 Climate Change Fellowship has clinched the prestigious 2025 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for Rural Culture. Emmanuel Bright Quaicoe, a journalist with Luv FM in Kumasi, Ghana, earned the global honour with his story: “Farmer-Herder Feud: A weakened fight?”
Emmanuel’s investigative video report reveals how violent clashes between nomadic herdsmen and local farming communities in the Asante Akyem North and Sekyere Afram Plains districts have claimed at least ten lives. He links the escalating tensions to shrinking pastoral lands caused by climate change, which has intensified competition over dwindling resources.
His story sheds light on the persistent lack of decisive government intervention to resolve the conflict, despite years of research and recommendations from experts. The piece brings to the fore the human cost of climate-driven resource pressure and the urgent need for sustainable solutions.
Emmanuel credits the MFWA’s Climate Change Fellowship (2022) with shaping his professional direction and equipping him with the skills that enabled his award-winning story. “Prior to my participation in the Fellowship, I barely knew about climate change and its impact. But I immersed myself in the knowledge and experience shared by the facilitators to build my career in science and climate change reporting,” he told the MFWA.
He added that the Fellowship’s training and mentorship inspired him to report critically on climate-related issues, especially within the agriculture sector. His commitment to using his new skills, he said, fuelled the production of the story that has now earned international recognition.
“I am profoundly grateful to the MFWA for the insightful experience with nine other colleagues from West Africa. Had it not been for the MFWA, I probably wouldn’t have come this far. Their deliberate commitment to impactful journalism has shaped young minds like me to shine light on issues that demand accountability.”
Before winning the IFAJ Star Prize, Emmanuel’s story had received acclaim. In 2024, it won Best Television Reporter for Anti-Conflict and Inclusive Journalism at the Awards organised by the Media Platform for Environment and Climate Change.