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Dialogue Earth and the Wits Centre for Journalism, Africa-China Reporting Project, held a workshop on Reporting Climate Change in Africa, on 21 February 2025, at Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya. The Workshop convened with selected and invited journalists, media scholars and professionals, engaged by trainers and expert representatives, to develop their skills and knowledge on climate change reporting within the context of Africa.
The Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshops, follow the launch of the free Reporting Climate Change in Africa Online Course, developed under the ground-breaking collaboration between the four global organisations; Dialogue Earth, Wits Africa-China Reporting Project, Development Reimagined, and The China Global South Project, under the funding framework of the Africa Climate Foundation (ACF). Furthermore, within the collaboration, ten reporting grants awards were provided, as announced on Dialogue Earth's Facebook and Twitter X platforms.
The Reporting Climate Change in Africa project aims to help build the field of climate journalism in Africa. This supports the wider development of journalism and environmental civil society on the continent, and helps to create opportunities for media professionals, organisations and NGOs that demand a greater voice in the public sphere.
African voices have been excluded from the global conversations around climate change and the just transitions, and there is scant awareness of climate change solutions appropriate to African realities. The continent's choices of partners and technologies remain contingent on external drivers; stakeholders lack the tools for making proactive choices around partnerships for the climate and environment initiatives.
Informed media coverage is required to improve public participation, and to support greater awareness of the risks and opportunities among development partnerships and initiatives related to climate change mechanisms, and their impact on the grass roots, technological and financing options, African resources and manufacturing in the renewable energy industry. African media can play a greater role in showcasing African perspectives and needs, in scrutinizing governments' and business roles in partnership with global players and investors.
The Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop featured expert-led discussions, interactive sessions and skills training on climate change coverage, media and education in Africa. The Workshop engaged the modules presented in the free Reporting Climate Change in Africa Online Course (MOOC), the Climate Reporting Toolkit Africa and Reporting Guides, as well insights of their applicability to reporting African perspectives and contexts, with an emphasis on voices of women, youth, and other under-represented groups.
Associate Dean, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya, Professor George Nyabuga
The Workshop programme began with Welcome and opening remarks from Aga Khan University Associate Dean, Professor George Nyabuga. The Associate Dean reflected on the role of human beings in the planet; compared to other species on earth, without humans, the planet would be able to continue to thrive without the devastating impact human beings have had on the planet.
"The environmental crisis we face demand not only journalists' attention but also proactive media interventions that can help steer us towards sustainable solutions," said Professor Nyabuga.
Encompassing this to the understandings of society, Nyabuga said that "we need a media which understands these issues... as sense is not often common". To the role of media and journalists to make sense of socio-economic issues, the professor reflected on the current governance under Trump 2.0, where news and information has gone beyond sensationalist. Professor Nyabuga therein asked; "how do we report and inform society, in a distilled way less of fake news and disinformation". Further to the remarks, the Associate Dean reflected on significant questions to climate change, while observing the sustainability of journalism to reporting these issues. The questions needed to reflect on were as follows:
Project Coordinator, Wits Centre for Journalism, Bongiwe Tutu
Presenting the objectives of the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshops, Project Coordinator to the Wits Centre for Journalism, Africa-China Reporting Project, Bongiwe Tutu, said, "because we need to take charge of adopting solutions which are appropriate to the realities of African people... The workshops are to build to an informed media and communications landscape in Africa, to improve public participation, and to support greater awareness of the risks and opportunities to climate change related mechanisms, and their impacts on the ground level."
The Africa-China Reporting Project, is one of a range of projects and grants which are running within the Wits Centre for Journalism, existing among study programmes, scholarships and internships. The Centre provides a rich and exciting range of offerings in teaching, training, research and public engagement, being housed in Wits University, one of the leading institutions in the continent, and globally.
The Project Coordinator held that over the years, the Africa-China Reporting Project has grown into a networking hub for professionals from over 33 African countries, and over 20 countries internationally. That at the core of the projects work is to improve the quality of reporting on African and Africa’s engagements with China, by providing facilitation and capacity building for journalists and researchers, and to amplify Africa’s perspectives to enhance its development.
Within the selection for the Workshop participants to Nairobi, it was held that 180 applications were received. 106 of which, were from applicants in Kenya. With the rest of the applications coming from individuals in various countries in the continent, including Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Burundi, Somalia, Liberia, Togo, DRC, South Sudan, Ghana, South Africa, Malawi, Rwanda, Cameroon, Namibia, Benin, Madagascar, Eswatini, Egypt. A significant indication of the need and interest to opportunities of this nature. The first Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop, Johannesburg, South Africa, respectively received 59 applications. The Johannesburg workshop engaged professionals from countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and China, and online attendees joining from Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, Zambia, Cameroon and Uganda.
The Reporting Climate Change in Africa initiative has seen impact through four initiatives;
Within the reporting of climate change and the climate crisis in Africa, the Africa-China Reporting Project has facilitated, in 2023 the Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition Workshop, and the Journalists Training Workshop and Reporting Grants, on Africa-China Relations and the Climate Crisis, in 2022.
The full presentation of Bongiwe Tutu is available here.
Impact Editor (Africa), Dialogue Earth, Brian Obara Wang'oma
Brian Obara Wang'oma presented the significance of the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Consortium, placing reflection and assessment to the Reporting Climate Change in Africa Online Course (MOOC). Wang'oma held that the purpose of the initiative was to build a massive open online course (MOOC), that would make it easy for early-career journalists to engage the platform either by mobile or desktop in order to enhance their knowledge of climate change issues in Africa. Furthermore, the objective was to amplify African voices in the climate change discourse, with the specific intent of providing training to journalists on how to best access and incorporate credible subject matter experts from across the continent, into their reporting. The Impact Editor, further presented the Theory of Change, of the initiative, as well as the three target audiences; risks and challenges; the execution; and outcomes of the initiatives. Notably to the outcomes, that over 2800 individuals across the continent and abroad, enrolled for the Reporting Climate Change in Africa course to completion by taking the final survey.
The full presentation of Brian Obara Wang'oma is available here.
The Participants Introductory Session was Moderated by Njenga Hakeenah, Africa Climate Editor, China-Global South Project. A range of organisations were represented by each of the participants, contributing a diverse engagements on climate change reporting, from a wide range of aspects, including; media organisations, civil society groups, government sectors, NGOs and community groups, and independent bodies. The organisations which were represented include; The Guardian; Milele FM; Reuters; Royal Media Services (Hot 96 & Digital Department); Tuko Media; Inspire Teenagers Foundation; Royal Media Services; ATPS; Media Max; The Kenya Times, Nation Media Group; Solidaridad East and Central Africa; CSGP Air Quality Monitoring; Mmust FM; Kenya Broadastin Coorporation (KBC); TalkAfrica; Network International; Climate Strategies and NDC Implementation; Migrant Narratives Africa; Science Media Cafe; MESHA; USAID. The full gallery of all workshop participants is available below in the report.
Trainer: Carlos Mureithi, East Africa Correspondent, The Guardian, formerly Africa Climate and Environment Correspondent, Associated Press
The first session presented a range of elements to understanding climate change sources in Africa. These included and were not limited to breaking down the examples of sources of climate change information; sources and platforms of climate change information; individuals which can be used as sources to reporting on climate change in Africa. The session engaged on how journalists can access the sources and why it is important for African journalists to include the views and voices of African climate experts and local people affected by the crisis in their stories; Some of the challenges in getting African sources and voices; and how journalists and media professionals can overcome them.
The full presentation of Carlos Mureithi is available here.
Trainer: Duncan Mboyah, Independent Journalist, Nairobi, Kenya
The second session engaged on the role of media on the effects of climate change in the continent. The session explored the various roles which media can play in responses to climate change; how social media and AI affects climate journalism. Furthermore, discussions included explorations on the population groups most affected by climate change; why climate change was a difficult subject matter for beginners; the various trends in climate reporting; what journalists require in order to tell the climate story well; and what needed to happen or change in order to address the inadequacies in African media responses to climate change.
The full presentation of Duncan Mboyah is available here.
Trainer: Zeynab Wandati, Sustainability and Climate Editor, Nation Media Group
Session three explored the practical and effective ways of telling the climate change story to African audiences. The session presented how climate change affects development and how such stories can be identified and reported. Furthermore, the session presented issues to regional to global cooperation and tensions, while assessing elements such as diversification of news sources; effective storytelling tools which include humanising stories, localising climate issues, presenting solutions-based reporting, using AI tools and mobile journalism. The session further presented topic ideas for storytelling, and how journalists can link climate change with issues affecting Africa, such as health; food security; biodiversity; waste management; water; conflict; security; insecurity; immigration; energy; and political instability.
The full presentation of Zeynab Wandati is available here.
Facilitator: Dr Enoch Sithole, Executive Director, Institute for Climate Change Communication, Johannesburg, South Africa & Njenga Hakeenah, Africa Climate Editor, China-Global South Project
Session four explored the fundamentals to climate reporting within the context of Africa. The session presented the historical-current understandings to climate change in Africa; How the current status of climate change education in the African curriculum was; the gaps and opportunities to climate education in Africa. The session further presented the Climate Reporting Toolkit Africa; what resources the toolkit provides to journalists in Africa; Understanding the Reporting and Story Hub; the Knowledge Hub, the Networking Hub; Myths and Myth busting resources; Climate Reporting Experts. Furthermore, the reporting guides; Learning through the Leveraging African Indigenous Knowledge to Combat Climate Change; A Practical Guide for African Journalists – The Cobalt Supply Chain in the DRC; Africa’s Energy Future; How the Climate Crisis Affects African Food security; Why Africa Could be a Global Clean Energy Powerhouse; Finding Africa’s Voice in the Climate Change Conversation; The Effect of Climate Change on Africa’s Water Systems, were explored.
The full presentation of Dr Enoch Sithole is available here. The full presentation of Njenga Hakeenah is available here.
Facilitator: Ivory Kairo, Development Reimagined
In different discussion groups, the Workshop participants discussed and examined the role of the MOOC to Africa's media professionals, to discuss the significance of the Reporting Climate Change in Africa MOOC for media scholars, and professionals. Participants assessed the wholistic elements to the delivery of the MOOC, and the six modules presented in the MOOC, namely the Introduction to climate change; Reporting climate change for beginners; Climate change and Africa: The big picture; Tailoring reporting to African audiences; Africa's climate solutions; Your African climate intervention; What solutions are required in reporting Climate in Africa, and for African professionals in the media. Future facing for the MOOC, groups presented various elements which could be implemented in developing the impact of the MOOC.
Facilitator: Bongiwe Tutu, Project Coordinator, Wits Centre for Journalism
The final session presented the key elements to writing and developing a reporting grant proposal. The session included important aspects to include in a reporting grant proposal; how reporting proposals can present the background, methodologies, relevance and rationale, and target audiences; what needs to go into a reporting grant proposal budget; the fundamentals to a strong proposal; reporting on data, and resources to databases.
The full presentation of Bongiwe Tutu is available here.
Dr Dinesh Balliah, Director, Wits Centre for Journalism
The closing remarks were presented by Dr Dinesh Balliah, Director, Wits Centre for Journalism. Dr Balliah shared important factors to have in consideration when reporting on climate in Africa. Firstly, the importance of learning and understanding how science woks, reflecting that in the field of reporting on climate, journalists need to make themselves familiar with scientific jargon in order to report adequately. Furthermore, the Director reflected on the importance of experts, becoming experts and building on the databases of experts in Africa, noting that "let's spend time to experts", in climate reporting.
The third point drawn to was the importance of context and regional integration within storytelling. "We have failed to join the dots with people in our neighboring countries", said Dinesh, noting that every story has a thread which it runs, and issues affecting one community run in par and correlation in another community. These are the gaps which can be explored in reporting of climate issues. Further to the importance of community, Dinesh noted that there is an apparent extractive culture in how communities are used when reporting stories, and that journalists are extractive in their reporting, and "we do not go back to our communities", to inform them of the impact of what was reported.
The final three points of importance shared by the Director, include building closer collaboration and access to networks; building and joining listening clubs and reading clubs; and working with community radio stations, as they currently struggle to produce content.
Finally, Dr Balliah gave thanks to all key organisations and colleagues part of the planning and implementation of the Workshop, notably reflecting on the key points given by the trainers Carlos Mureithi, Duncan Mboyah, Dr Enoch Sithole, and Zeynab Wandati. Furthermore, to colleagues at Dialogue Earth, the Wits Africa-China Reporting Project, Development Reimagined, the China-Global South Project and especially to The Aga Khan University for their profound support towards the Workshop.
In order to promote the better development of the initiatives around climate reporting in Africa, with an informed in-depth understanding of the needs and ideas of media scholars and professionals, the Reporting Climate Change in Africa consortium prepared the Participant survey: Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop - Nairobi, Kenya. As an attendee of the Workshop, if you haven't already done so, please take some time to complete the survey, in order to inform on the future building of training and network outreach initiatives.
The Reporting Climate Change in Africa Workshop survey is available here.
Photos by: Benson Githaiga and Thomas Lethoba
