Biography

Busani Bafana is a versatile development journalist, based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Busani has more than 15 years of experience as a freelance journalist covering mainly environment, agriculture, food security, and climate change issues. His work has appeared on Inter Press Service, In-Depth News, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Africa Renewal, and Alliance for Science Communication. An impassioned storyteller, Busani applies his communication skills in documenting, knowledge management, and communication training consultancy. He enjoys writing, photography, and philately. 
 
Among his notable awards is the CGIAR Science Award for Excellence in Agricultural Journalism for the story on the adoption of biotechnology in banana production in Africa. Busani received a Special Merit Award from the European School of Oncology’s (ESO) Best Cancer Reporter Awards for his coverage of how cancer patients are failed by the health care system. He also jointly won the inaugural Ozone Africa Media Award in 2011 from UNEP and received the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) 70th Commemorative Medal in 2015 in recognition of development journalism. Busani’s story of the impact of drought on livestock farmers in Zimbabwe won the Runner Up prize of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize.
 
Busani holds a B.Phil, in Information & Knowledge Management and B.A, in English and Communication Studies. 
 
Stories
https://www.ipsnews.net/2022/02/speed-dating-future-romance-science-biodiversity/
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2022/04/africa-struggles-to-improve-literacy-about-climate-change-as-its-effects-worsen-across-the-continent/
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2022/01/climate-change-is-smoking-zimbabwes-valuable-tobacco-crop/
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/june-2021/feeding-africa-africa-smallholder-farmers-leverage-afcfta