Today, Women's suffrage in Sweden is celebrating 90 years. In 1914, my grandmother was born without the right of vote. Her voice was not worth anything – because of her gender. I am proud to be celebrating the anniversary at my very first IFAJ-congress, while I am thinking of all sisters that were fighting and are still fighting around the world for freedom of speech; freedom of expression; freedom of press.

If the minister of Agriculture is a pain in the ass I will write about it, no one can tell me what to write, said Hans Siemes from the Netherlands when he was talking about freedom of speech yesterday.

Is freedom of the press an important issue for agricultural journalists, he continued. Well, maybe, we are not standing in the front lines of wars most of the time, but agriculture is worldwide, exists everywhere and covers all topics.

Our roles will always be to watch and report for freedom. That includes telling the true stories and never stopping to be critical. Journalists from China or Congo have many greater and different challenges compared to journalists from Canada or Sweden. But we are all equal and journalists in the agricultural field.

It is always important to remember what roles companies, organizations or politicians play. We cannot afford to burn bridges behind. But, as Siemes says, we are hired by people to tell the truth. No matter how hard it is…

Tools like those that social media offers make our work much more complex and much more diverse. A Tweet or YouTube-clip travels in a second across all borders. To be part of a platform that connects 4,000 journalists in 31 countries is powerful. IFAJ can use that power to push for changes in the freedom of press.

No rights can occur or be maintained by themselves. And a watchdog is not a watchdog if it cannot bark.

As one of the Alltech’s Young Leader Award Winners, I am thrilled by the new challenges agriculture has in the future. The only natural resources that are increasing on Earth are human hands. In the future the quality of farming soil and water will be the limiting resources. Food is the new oil, said Alltech vice president Aidan Connolley today. It is also questions that will be raised and to be investigated at the Congress in Sweden next year, where the theme will be “Green solutions for the future”.

This entry was written by Anna Nilsson, Swedish delegate and 2011 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leader and Boot Camp delegate, following a presentation by Hans Siemes of the Netherlands about freedom of the press.