Multimedia Group Limited journalist Joseph Opoku Gakpo has won an international award for agricultural reporting in Uganda.

He was honoured as the First Runner-up in the Best Radio Reporting Category at the OFAB Media Awards (OAMS) 2017 organized by the Africa Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo – Uganda on Wednesday night to recognize excellence in Agric reporting.

His radio report on the negative impact of climate change on production by farmers at Asutsuare in the Greater Accra region, and how technology can help mitigate the problems won him the First Runner up position.

Opoku Gakpo competed for the award with journalists from Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso. Omolara Afolayan of TVC News in Nigeria won the ultimate prize.

Opoku Gakpo who holds a first degree in agricultural biotechnology and a master’s degree in communication studies works on the Environment, Agric and Technology Desk in the Joy newsroom.

He is also Joy News’ parliamentary correspondent. He is a previous winner of Ghana Journalists’ Association Best reporter in Sustainable Development Goals Reporting (2015) and Best Reporter in Poverty Alleviation Reporting (2014).

Commenting on the award, Opoku Gakpo said, “I dedicate this to all the farmers whose stories we try our best to tell every day. I look forward to the day when I will travel to rural Ghana and have no story about farmers’ struggles to report. That may leave me with no job but I will really thank God for that day.”