Mongabay Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism 2024

Published: 05 Mar 2024 930 views

Mongabay Africa is launching its French-speaking scholarship program for environmental journalism on the African continent. A course that allows aspiring journalists residing in key biodiversity locations to produce reports on crucial environmental issues. The objective: to contribute to the career development of our fellows, by allowing them to gain training, experience and credibility. Ultimately, Mongabay hopes that participants will join its growing global network, becoming regular contributors. [read articles from fellows:

The scholarship program

In addition to its English- and Spanish-speaking fellowship programs, Mongabay Africa’s French-speaking fellowship program for environmental journalism supports up to 12 fellows per year. Each cohort will consist of six fellows from various countries. 

Under the supervision of editors-in-chief, fellows will gain valuable experience in our international news organization. There they will develop their skills in environmental reporting and create a portfolio of original publications, intended to help them in their career development.

Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism

Benefits of Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism

• The scholarship program runs twice a year: from April to June and from October to December, and targets six countries on the African continent, which differ depending on the cohorts. 
• Each scholar receives $500 USD per month during the 3 months of the program, for a total of $1,500 USD. He will work closely with the editor-in-chief of scholarship programs as well as other journalists in the editorial office to produce a total of three reports. 
• Each fellow thus undertakes to work 10 hours per week to produce an average of one report per month. His productions are intended to be published on the Mongabay site.  

Requirements for Africa Scholarships for Environmental Journalism

• Applicants must aspire to pursue a career as an environmental journalist
• Applicants must be able to work remotely with a good internet connection and webcam, and commit to a total of 10 hours of work per week. 
• For this first cohort, candidates must reside in one of the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger or Togo. 
• No level of education is required to apply. This scholarship program is not linked to any university. 
• All application documents must be submitted in the appropriate language (French for the French-speaking program).
• All documents must comply with the guidelines below or risk disqualification. 

Required Qualifications

• Understanding of the basics of reporting and interest in writing news articles 
• Interest in nature conservation issues
• Aspire to a career as an environmental journalist 
• Proven information and writing skills
• Ability to meet scholarship program planning requirements
• Any affinity towards multimedia content will be carefully considered

Selection Process

Selection process

The selections are made internally by the Mongabay teams. Applicants will receive notification of the status of their file at least two weeks before the start of the cohort. Applications will be examined as they are received, which is why we invite you to submit your application as soon as possible.

• The application window for the April-June cohort is February 26 – March 15. For the October-December cohort, it takes place from June 15 to July 1.

Application Documents

On the application form, you will be asked to fill in your contact details, answer a few questions about your interests and upload the following documents:

• A CV (1-2 pages maximum)
• A cover letter (1 page maximum) to introduce yourself and answer these questions: 
  • What are your career goals? How are they linked to environmental journalism?
  • Why should Mongabay select you for this program? 
• An example of a text (published or not) written in a journalistic style, linked to an environmental theme. 

Application Deadline

How to Apply