https://rss.iono.fm/c/10128 Behind the Story is all about meeting African journalists who are part of Bird Story Agency's continent-wide hub of reporters, photographers and videographers. The series serves as an introduction to the processes behind the journalism that features in the agency platforms. News en Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:25 +0200 Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:06:05 +0200 30 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss iono.fm 2.5.2.0 Behind the Story no Paula Fray and Bird News Agency Weekly feeds@iono.fm (Feed Manager) https://cdn.iono.fm/files/p4534/logo_4534_20260723_102758_1400.jpeg https://rss.iono.fm/c/10128 Behind the Story is all about meeting African journalists who are part of Bird Story Agency's continent-wide hub of reporters, photographers and videographers. Behind the Story episodic Behind the Story des@frayintermedia.co.za false ZA https://iono.fm/e/1707069 https://iono.fm/e/1707069 An African Journal of Biotechnology research estimates that the country could cultivate as much as 385,000 hectares of cotton and produce up to 220,000 metric tonnes of seed cotton annually, benefiting up to 200,000 farming households.

Seeking to realise this potential, the Kenyan government has identified cotton as a priority value chain under its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (2022–2027). Its plans include expanding the area under cultivation, improving productivity and farmers’ incomes, modernising ginneries, widening access to quality seed and agricultural support, and attracting investment in local processing and manufacturing. The broader aim is to make Kenya’s cotton-to-clothing industry more competitive in regional and global markets.

For farmers such as Nyaga, the shift to Bt cotton offers an early indication of what higher productivity could mean for household incomes. Bt cotton is genetically modified to resist one of the most destructive pests known as bollworms, helping to reduce crop losses and potentially the need for insecticide spraying.

On his one-acre farm, Nyaga says he previously harvested about 300 kilograms of conventional cotton, which sold for KSh50 (US$0.39) a kilogram. Since adopting Bt cotton, his harvest has risen to about 800 kilograms, while the price has increased to KSh72 (US$0.56) a kilogram. This would raise his gross earnings from about KSh15,000 (US$116) to KSh57,600 (US$445) per harvest, before production costs.

For more head on to https://birdstoryagency.com/kenya-2/ ]]> News Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:04:00 +0200 0 0 Episode 2 - Milliam Murigi speaks to Bird Publisher Paula Fray about a Kenyan mini-ginnery 0 0 Paula Fray and Bird News Agency full 16:07 Behind the Story https://iono.fm/e/1699450 https://iono.fm/e/1699450 In this episode of Behind the Story, journalist Lerato Matheka takes us behind the reporting of her deeply human story about Lesotho's textile industry. Speaking to host, Bird Publisher Paula Fray, she explains how a seemingly technical subject—trade policy and industrialisation—became a story about people: the thousands of women whose lives were transformed by factory work, the government officials who quietly built one of Africa's most effective investment systems, and the workers now facing uncertainty as global markets shift.
Lerato shares how she gained the trust of former ministers, factory workers and trade union leaders, why she chose to tell the story through personal experiences rather than economics alone, and what surprised her most during her reporting.
It's a conversation about journalism, development, and the hidden stories behind the clothes we wear—and a reminder that behind every export statistic are lives stitched into the global economy. ]]> News Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0200 0 0 Episode 1 : Stitching Lesotho into the Global Economy 0 0 Paula Fray and Bird News Agency full 17:17 Behind the Story