Tag Archives: agriculture

The Malabo Montpellier Panel

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The Challenge: The Malabo Montpellier Panel seeks to influence European and African donors on effective ways to support poverty reduction through investment in sustainable African agriculture. Its bi-annual reports provide evidence and analysis of key topics such as soil management, climate change, energy, innovation and livestock. Their aim is to reach senior policy makers and key stakeholders, beyond just the scientific community, and demonstrate how and why they may provide agricultural support.

Our Approach: The Marchmont team has worked with the Malabo Montpellier Panel (and its predecessor) since 2011 to elevate their visibility and influence. Ahead of each report, Marchmont prepares a detailed outreach plan, including media materials, story angles, case studies and external news hooks. We then conduct embargoed media outreach ahead of each launch date and positioning panel members via the drafting of opinion editorials.

Outcomes: The Panel’s report launches have been covered extensively over the years by top-tier global outlets and a wide range of African and specialist outlets as well. A sampling of this coverage has included the Guardian, BBC, Reuters, Financial Times, Deutsche Welle, Xinhua, CNBC Africa, Christian Science Monitor, Thomson Reuters Foundation, The Conversation, Forbes Africa, Quartz Africa, Euractiv, Voice of America, El Pais, CGTN, SciDev, Inter Press Service, AllAfrica, Jeune Afrique, Business Daily Africa, The Africa Report, Devex and Food Tank along with multiple interviews with the BBC and CNBC Africa.

The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

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GIZ infographic

The Challenge: For policymakers, supporting agricultural development can be daunting task– both in terms of what agriculture is expected to achieve for development and also the conditions under which it takes place.

Our Approach: The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) tasked our team to help shape the content of a comprehensive guide for policymakers that they had written in partnership with the Overseas Development Institute. The report aimed to capture the policy areas where consensus exists as well as where debates and uncertainties still remain lies in which interventions work.

Outcomes: We worked with the report authors to craft new messages for the report; restructured and edited it; and then translated and designed it (view the full report here). We also produced an infographic (English and French versions) to help with the report’s later outreach both online and in workshops throughout Africa.

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

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The challenge: As an EU-funded institution supporting smallholder farmers in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), CTA wanted ongoing support to communicate its achievements and, more recently, support throughout its closure — by raising awareness, celebrating CTA’s lasting legacy and raising the profile of its partners and beneficiaries on the ground.

Our Approach: Marchmont delivered ongoing media outreach support, carrying out an assessment of CTA’s initiatives, case studies and success stories before developing year-long plans to showcase its work in its key regions. This involved a combination of monthly opinion pieces, regular media outreach campaigns and on-site media field visits in Africa and the Caribbean. For its legacy campaign, Marchmont mapped out an eight-month media plan, including monthly editorials, media bursts around set dates and creative communications support for its social media channels.

Outcomes: Within the first six months, Marchmont had secured around 150 pieces of coverage. Top-tier coverage includes Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Xinhua, France24, Mongabay, CNBC Africa, BBC, Yahoo News, Daily Mail, Economist Intelligence Unit, Forbes Africa, Euronews, World Economic Forum, SciDev, Devex, The Conversation, AllAfrica, African Business Magazine, The Diplomat, Radio New Zealand, Inter Press Service, Eco-Business and FoodTank among others.

CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

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The Challenge: Weather-based index insurance schemes have been piloted across the world, to gauge whether protecting poor farmers against climate risk is possible. No consensus on the factors of success had yet been drawn so the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) wanted to explore this issue through a short report, which was launched at a high-level event in London.

Our Approach: We helped CCAFS to launch the report as well as producing an cartoon-style infographic that explained the basics of weather-based index insurance and key findings of the report. This was launched on social media during the London event, supported by proactive media outreach.

Outcomes: Top-tier media hits included Bloomberg and Reuters, who both covered the report as the first publication to prove weather-based index insurance can work for smallholders. SciDev, Business Fights Poverty and Voice of America also covered the news.

Agriculture for Impact

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A4I website

The Challenge: About 80% of African farmers work on small plots which perform at only a fraction of their potential. Yet African agriculture holds vast potential to feed the continent’s growing population and fuel its economy – if given the right support.

Our Approach: Agriculture for Impact, under the leadership of Professor Sir Gordon Conway, is an independent advocacy initiative based at Imperial College London that aims to enable better European government support for productive, sustainable, equitable and resilient agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing in particular on the needs of smallholder farmers.

Outcomes: The Marchmont team has worked with Agriculture for Impact to develop and execute a communications strategy including planning and messaging workshops; research and writing; grant-writing support; and a complete redesign of their visual identity, including a new website and online database. We have also helped them secure hundreds of pieces of top-tier media coverage for their report launches, which have informed policymaking in the UN, European Commission, France and the UK, as well as the African Union over the years.