ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH) reporter Mthandazo Nyoni was named overall agriculture sector best reporter for 2018 after bagging four awards in the inaugural Zimbabwe Agriculture Media Awards held in Harare on Friday last week.
Nyoni won the cereal and wheat sector best reporter, cotton sector best reporter, beef and dairy sector best reporter as well as poultry sector best reporter awards.
He was first runner-up in the tobacco sector category.
The awards, organised by the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS), were launched this year to encourage to adequately cover the agriculture sector.
“I dedicate these awards to God and the entire AMH family, the winning team. I believe with the introduction of these awards, many journalists — from both the private and State-controlled media — would start giving more attention to the agriculture sector, our economic backbone.”
AMH are publishers of NewsDay, The Standard, Zimbabwe Independent and Southern Eye.
Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement deputy minister Vangelis Haritatos said the introduction of the awards was a milestone towards agriculture development in the country.
“I believe these awards will strengthen a relationship between ZAS, the media and a cross section of stakeholders in the agricultural value chain, including government . . . ,” Haritatos said.
“I urge the media fraternity to sharpen their pencils and influence positively and positive improvements in the coverage of agriculture-related news… There are so many stories to tell…,” he said.
