Canadian Farm Writers' Federation

18/10/2025

The last tour of our IFAJ experience brought us to Kagwe Tea Factory, where we got a glimpse into the seed-to-sip process of tea production, an event that takes about 9 hours from start to finish. The steps are: pick, weigh, wither, cut/roll, oxidize, dry, package! That’s a wrap on IFAJ 2025! Thanks for following my journey through Kenya, and I hope to be back next year in Croatia!

18/10/2025

Tour group #9 got its fair share of caffeine today! Our first stop was Karunguru Coffee Farm, where General Manager Gitau Karanja showed us the art of growing coffee. His staff harvest 200 acres of coffee plants each year, which equates to about 70 tons of beans. His number one tip for an excellent cup of joe is... don't boil the coffee! Boil the water, add the coffee afterward. Tip number two is to buy a percolator. After the tour, it was back on the bus and off to a tea factory!

18/10/2025

Harcourt Agri-Eco Farm was the next stop on the trip. There, we learned of an inspiring story involving 24-year-old Winnie Wambui. After completing her engineering degree, and turning a business proposal in as her thesis, she started her own organic waste collection/black soldier fly breeding business. Her team collects waste from markets around the city, and puts it to use as a feed for the fly larvae. Then, once they’re large enough, they’re ground into a sort of protien powder to be used for feed enrichment and fertilizer. Winnie says one day, she hopes to have her product in every feed and vet shop in the country.

17/10/2025

Tour Group 2 was blessed with a trip to the Charis demonstration fam in Naivasha this morning, where the goal is to teach small scale farmers how to grow their own food with what they have…hence the vegetables sprouting out of the recycled plastic jugs and tires. There was also an array of farm animals on site, whose manure is used to teach farmers what their options are when it comes to fertilizer. This tour group was also paid a special visit by Nakuru County Executive for Agriculture, Hon. Leonard Bor.

16/10/2025

I took the liberty of asking some of my fellow Young Leaders what came to mind when they heard the word ‘Canada’. Here are some of the perfectly accurate (mostly😂) descriptors that were born from this fun experiment. It certainly is interesting to see how the rest of the world sees us🇨🇦

16/10/2025

Following an insightful day of presentations and breakaway sessions, a trip to the local restaurant Carnivore was an experience in and of itself!

Fantastic food, great company, and live, traditional entertainment made it a night to remember. Check out that menu!

16/10/2025

16/10/2025

We are a community of writers and communicators, but I'm finding it hard to express my gratitude and adoration for this amazing group of people who represented Canada in Kenya this week. We can't wait to see all your content and articles that come from this amazing opportunity. Thank you for representing Canada, Canadian agriculture, CFWF, and your regional guilds.
Photo by Christian Muhlhausen

15/10/2025

A very lively kickoff to IFAJ 2025 was had tonight!

Delegates from over 30 countries gathered for the Welcome Reception, which was brought to life by live music and even some dancing! Several milestone achievements were celebrated at the reception. MESHA, or Media for Environment, Science, Health, and Agriculture, celebrated 20 years since establishment with a cake cutting ceremony (complete with confetti canons). The IFAJ Young Leaders Program also observed its 20th anniversary, with a plaque presentation dedicated to all 10 young journalists. Tomorrow (Thursday) morning will be comprised of informative presentations, breakaway sessions, and a dinner at The Carnivore to wrap up a productive day.

15/10/2025

Congratulations once again to Keira Miller and her adventure as an Alltech Young Leader. Thanks to Alltech, we are beyond lucky to have this program available to young farm writers from around the world. In celebration of 20 years of the program, give us a comment with your Congress year and country.
Photos courtesy of Sharon Grose.

15/10/2025

IFAJ Congress 2025 is officially underway in Kenya!

The day began with big news coming out of the Executive and Delegate meetings…The IFAJ welcomed Nigeria and Kyrgyzstan as new member countries! President of Kyrgyz Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Journalists Association Ulan Eshmatov
addressed the delegates, sharing his gratitude and appreciation for his country’s recent induction, alongside excitement for what’s to come.

Not only did we add to our family of ag journalists, but that family was given a new name, as well! Delegates voted in favour of changing IFAJ’s meaning from International Federation of Agricultural Journalists to International Forum of Agricultural Journalists to comply with policies relating to the word “federation”. So, no worries, our acronym will remain the same! The meeting concluded with a presentation from Croatia, the setting for IFAJ 2026!

The afternoon/evening brought the Welcome Reception, various presentations from local ag organizations and researchers, the Young Leader awards, and, of course, a traditional dance session with live music! Stay tuned for those photos…

15/10/2025

On behalf of CFWF, I want to wish everyone safe travels to Kenya and back as our members attend the IFAJ Congress in Kenya this week. We are a small but mighty group from all across Canada and I can't wait to see all the amazing journalism that comes from the Congress.