Introduction
The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) annually organizes a world congress. Alternately, the congress takes place in Europe and on another continent. After previous editions in Germany (2016) and South Africa (2017) the conference took place in the Netherlands in July 2018. The Dutch Roots board set Dutch Roots: small country big solutions as the denominator for the Dutch agricultural product chains.
The Netherlands is a small country with often big challenges which may lead to inventive solutions. This is what the farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, municipalities, provinces and other government bodies shared with the journalists and other attendees during the congress.
Organization
The congress organization was appointed by the IFAJ at the request of the NVLJ, the Dutch Association for Agricultural and Horticultural Journalism. The conference hooked on to the centenary that Wageningen University & Research (WUR) celebrated in 2018. The congress organization was controlled by the independent foundation Dutch Roots, which is based on the voluntary commitment of NVLJ members and a conference manager who partly received paid hours of work.
Stories and productions
The event inspired 150 international agriculture journalists in many ways and fueled them in a journalistic and personal perspective. This has lead to many stories and productions in their own media. Dutch Roots contributed to making new and hopefully long-lasting connections. It strengthened existing relationships and the worldwide network formed by the agricultural journalists and communicators.
The Dutch Roots tours
The IFAJ2018 World Congress Dutch Roots tours offered visits to a wide variety of businesses, organizations, farms, auctions and factories. The visits all revolved around one or more of the Dutch Roots themes Urban Delta, Smart Farming and Circular Economy. Below you’ll find a detailed overview of all the tours we organized on Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th of July 2018.