With an aim to promote the country's agriculture and agro-processing industry, PRAN, the pioneer in the sector and the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) have jointly introduced the first ever ‘ERF-PRAN Media Award’ to encourage in-depth reporting to highlight prospects and problems.
The award is aimed at recognizing journalists for their contributions to the agro-processing sector to reach consumers, policymakers and global retailers.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at the ERF office at Purana Paltan in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.
ERF-PRAN Media Award-2024 will be presented in three categories- Print, Online and Television. Seven journalists will be honored for their reports submitted from May 1st to July 31st, following a thorough evaluation by a five-member jury board.
"PRAN is an agro processing company. Agro-processing is very close to our heart and our founder initiated it in Bangladesh. If we can expedite the development of the agro processing industry, it would help the economic development of the country," said Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of PRAN-RFL Group.
"We have been in the business for a long and increasing investment day by day. We have connectivity with over 1 lakh farmers through contract farming and they are producing products for us," said Kamal.
Contract farming provides fair prices and transferring technology, which is contributing to the overall economy, he added.
In the sector, there are difficulties in farming, processing and marketing also. If the journalists do in-depth reports on these, it would inform the policymakers and stakeholders to come up with better solutions and policy support, said Kamal.
"From this perspective, we have decided to join with ERF to award journalists for their best works on the sector," he narrates.
Currently, PRAN is exporting different types of agro-processing and other products to 145 countries.
“Agro-processing sector is a potential sector contributing to the economic development of the nation. With proper guidance, the sector could become a major player in exports following the success of the ready-made garments industry. Journalists, who are making reports regularly on the agro-processing sector are playing an important role to move forward this sector. We are very happy to be part of the initiative,” said Kamal.
Addressing the program, Refayet Ullah Mirdha, president of ERF said, “Agro-processing sector is a very significant topic for reporting. The report on the sector has a positive impact on farmers, businesses, and the overall economy of the country.”
At the event, speakers urged journalists to submit reports focusing on various aspects of the agriculture sector, such as modern farming systems, agriculture product marketing, good agriculture practices and integrated farming, the expansion of the sector for the benefit of agriculture and farmers.
Additionally, the committee was encouraged to cover topics like the business landscape of the agro-processing sector, opportunities, challenges, new investment, employment generation, social impact, supply chain, exports, and future prospects.
Abul Kashem, General Secretary of ERF, executive members of ERF, Touhiduzzaman, Assistant General Manager (Public Relations) of PRAN-RFL Group and high officials of the group were also present at the program.