From October 21 to 25 2025, the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) convened a five-day masterclass in Nairobi focused on reporting the productive use of solar energy in agriculture. The training brought together 16 journalists from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The training builds on ACME’s broader programme to strengthen journalism on renewable energy and climate-resilient agriculture, supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation through its DREEM (Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystem Model) initiative.
Building knowledge through research and training
ACME’s work in this area began with research conducted across six media institutions in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to assess how the productive use of solar energy was being reported. The findings revealed that most coverage before training remained limited to events or project announcements, with little attention to renewable energy systems, policy frameworks, or the ways energy could be productively applied across the agricultural value chain. Story formats were narrow, and sources were largely confined to project implementers or donors, leaving audiences with only a partial view of the sector.
Based on these insights, ACME developed a training curriculum and created a foundational course, which was successfully conducted in each of the three countries. These trainings introduced journalists to distributed renewable energy, reporting techniques, and the role of renewable energy in agriculture. Post-training monitoring showed some progress: coverage began to expand in both scope and depth, with journalists investigating broader aspects of renewable energy use. However, the overall quantity of stories remained limited. A final report monitoring media coverage of solar-powered agriculture is currently underway and is expected to provide further insights into emerging trends, gaps, and opportunities for sustained reporting.
Field insights and cross-border collaboration
Building on this foundation, ACME’s Nairobi masterclass convened a select number of journalists from all three countries in a single intensive learning session. Bringing together media professionals from various countries offered a unique opportunity for cross-border exchange. It allowed participants to compare regulatory frameworks, assess market readiness, address climate challenges, and explore the media landscape throughout East Africa. This approach encouraged collaboration, broadened perspectives, and reinforced the understanding that solar-powered agriculture is a regional issue, with solutions and challenges that transcend national borders. Participants were able to share experiences, discuss reporting strategies, and reflect on differences and similarities in how renewable energy is adopted and reported across the three countries.
The masterclass included a field visit to SowPrecise, a climate-smart agritech social enterprise in Embu County, Kenya. SowPrecise provides mobile solar-powered irrigation services to smallholder farmers, including innovations such as the SunRider, which extends access to irrigation for communities with limited water and electricity infrastructure. Journalists were able to observe the use of solar energy-powered irrigation in a predominantly semi-arid region, observing how the technology enhances crop production and strengthens farm resilience in areas vulnerable to inconsistent rainfall. This allowed them to connect reporting with real-world practice, and to move beyond abstract descriptions to portray how solar energy can influence productivity, water use efficiency and livelihoods.
Following the masterclass, ACME will provide reporting grants to the participants. These grants are intended to enable journalists to develop novel stories on solar-powered agriculture and distributed renewable energy, utilising the skills and knowledge gained during the training to generate reporting that is evidence-based and impactful.
This initiative forms part of ACME’s continuing journalism education programme, which aims to strengthen knowledge-based reporting across a broad range of public affairs subjects. It is designed to equip journalists with the understanding required to critically track developments, analyse claims, and communicate the significance of public issues to their audiences.
Supporting journalism and communications beyond training
One of the ways ACME complements this capacity development work is by recognising and celebrating excellence in journalism. The Uganda National Journalism Awards, a programme of ACME, and Uganda’s most prestigious journalism awards, includes a reporting category focused on reporting on solar-powered agriculture. Now in its second year, the category is open to journalists from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, regardless of their participation in the training courses. The award is designed to reinforce and reward sustained, high-quality reporting that brings evidence-based coverage of distributed renewable energy to wider public attention in the region.
Through the combination of pre-training research, foundational courses, the Nairobi masterclass, and reporting grants, ACME seeks to advance journalism and content production that is informed, rigorous and responsive to the realities of solar-powered agriculture. In addition, the project includes strategic communication support for DREEM programme partners across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, helping stakeholders to share knowledge and updates on distributed renewable energy initiatives effectively.
