On September 12, 2023, in the City of Banjul (formerly Bathurst) - The Gambia, something big on chicken welfare was reverberating and reigning on the small West African country’s airwaves.

ANAW in partnership with The Gambia Press Union, The Gambia’s Ministry of Livestock Services, The Gambia Veterinary Council, The Gambia Animal Welfare Advocacy Association, The Gambia National Poultry Farmers’ Cooperative and The Gambia National Farmers Platform supported by Open Wing Alliance (OWA), conducted an impactful Media Workshop on Cage-free Chicken Farming themed, “Towards a Cage-Free Continent”, at Paradise Suites Hotel attended by 35 journalists.

The workshop was aimed at bringing together all media houses (print, electronic and online) in The Gambia for chicken welfare sensitization, with a goal of informed reporting of chicken welfare related stories by the media especially focusing on the campaign against battery cages in Africa.

Declaring the workshop open in his keynote speech, Dr Abdou Ceesay, The Gambia’s Director General, Department of Livestock Service, while acknowledging the key role media plays in informing the masses, he urged the scribes to use the knowledge gained from the workshop training to report impactfully on promotion of animal welfare. He further lauded ANAW for organizing this one-of-a-kind gathering of the journalists and editors to discuss chicken welfare, which he said was a major concern in his ministry.

“We recognize the need to catch up with the increasing demand of poultry and poultry products in our developing world, especially in Africa. However, we should carefully consider the other side of the coin – while we heavily rely on our chickens to provide for our welfare in terms of nutrition and health, we should also endeavor to do whatever it is possible to improve the welfare of these animals, too.” He admonished.

On battery cages, he opined, “It is without a doubt that one of the greatest shortcomings of the battery cage system is the confinement of birds resulting in repudiation of most of the five freedoms. Like any other animals, birds are supposed to enjoy their natural behaviors such as scratching, sandbathing, exercising, perching and wings flapping among others. That is where you – the journalists come in, to help educate the masses and farmers to consider using chicken welfare friendly methods in their farming ventures.”

In his remarks, The Gambia Press Union President, Amodou Jallow offered, “We commit ourselves to using our influence to drive the right message through all possible mediums on the suffering of chickens and their overall welfare. Many of us didn’t know how dire the welfare situation was on chickens. Through this workshop we have learned - now we know, and we will use the power of pen to especially influence policy change on chicken rearing and handling.”

In his welcome remarks delivered from Prague, Czech Republic while attending the OWA Global Summit, ANAW’s Acting Executive Director, Josiah Ojwang, passionately appealed to the members of the fourth estate to do what journalism should do; to shine a light on a dark place and expose the suffering of the helpless and voiceless; in this case, the chickens.

“We urge you today, to use your profession skillfully to inform, educate and influence the masses as well as policy makers for a better chicken welfare, hoping that one day - with our combined tireless efforts, in this campaign, Africa will get rid of cages and our chickens will be free, at last” he said.