Louisville Public Media’s 89.3 WFPL/Louisville reporter Roxanne Scott has been awarded a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. The grant will enable Scott to travel to Nigeria to report on food insecurity and health. Scott will look at solutions developing in Kentucky, as well as Nigeria, to aflatoxin contamination caused by mold that grows on grains and legumes when not dried thoroughly. The contagion results in a loss of $450 million per year for grain producers in Africa. The toxin is linked to impaired brain development as well as liver cancer in children.
“I applied to be a grantee because I saw it as an opportunity to report on local ties to a global issue,” said Scott. “I’m happy to work at a place that sees the value in international reporting.”
“I’m really excited to see what Roxanne’s research turns up,” said WFPL News Director Erica Peterson. “This support from the Pulitzer Center will allow her to see the problems caused by aflatoxin contamination first-hand, and bring these stories to our readers and listeners.”
