Apply for Reporting Trip on Poverty, Hunger and Food Security in Tanzania by August 2!

To examine issues related to hunger, poverty, and food security and contribute to this important international debate in the lead-up to World Food Day 2013, the International Reporting Project (IRP) is pleased to announce a ten-day new media reporting trip on September 29-October 9 to the East African country of Tanzania. Applications for the trip are now being accepted.

On October 16, during World Food Day, the international community will be discussing how to feed the growing global population, given increasingly complex social, political, and environmental conditions. What developing countries are doing to address their own food security needs will have huge implications for the global food system, as well as for the individual economic and health conditions of each country.

The IRP trip will focus on issues related to agricultural production, hunger and nutrition, and economic development in Tanzania, including stunting and undernutrition, environmental sustainability, agriculture markets, agricultural and health policy, technology and innovation in agriculture, and other closely related themes.

Some priority will be given to applicants from the United States, but new media journalists from all nations are eligible. New media journalists include media professionals, bloggers, influential social media practitioners, and freelance contributors.

Participants on this trip will have an opportunity to visit urban and rural sites in order to gain an understanding of general and specific challenges to ensuring food security in Tanzania. We will also examine social factors – such as human rights and equity issues, women’s empowerment, governance, and marginalized communities – in this geographically and culturally diverse country.

All candidates must fill out an application form and provide a detailed essay describing the types of stories they might pursue during the Tanzania trip. The deadline for applications is Friday, August 2.

The IRP will purchase the Fellows’ round-trip air tickets to Tanzania, pay for hotel costs, meals and local transportation. Participants will have to obtain their own visas to Tanzania, but the IRP will reimburse them for the visa costs. Fellows who wish to extend their stay in Tanzania after the fellowship will have the option to arrange that at their own expense.

Participants will be asked to post frequent stories, including blog posts, slideshows, tweets, video and audio clips, throughout the fellowship–before, during and after the trip. All of the content produced by the participants on the IRP trip to Tanzania would be posted on the IRP site and co-owned by you (or your distribution partners, depending on agreements) and the IRP.

In addition, the works produced as a result of the trip would be made available for posting on the social media channels of the IRP’s funders. The IRP new media reporting trips are supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read our frequently asked questions and apply for the Tanzania trip by midnight on Friday, August 2!