CONSULTANT TO DEVELOP A VIDEO DOCUMENTARY Consultancy NEW

About Self Help Africa:

Self Help Africa (SHA) is an international NGO dedicated to the vision of an economically thriving and resilient rural Africa. We have 50 years of experience working with smallholder farmers, farmer associations, cooperatives and agribusinesses across Africa to help farmers grow and sell more food, improve diets, diversify incomes and make their livelihoods more sustainable and resilient to external shocks. SHA also builds awareness of issues affecting smallholders and represent their interests at policy and institutional level.

SHA is a core member of The Gorta Group which is composed of a group of innovative organisations driving sustainable economic and social change across Africa. Comprising Self Help Africa, United Purpose, Partner Africa and TruTrade, the Gorta Group combines expertise in market-based solutions to poverty and rural development; climate change mitigation and resilience; trade facilitation and farmer and worker rights; underpinned by an inclusive ethos that specifically targets women and youth.

Background:

Community Foundation Ireland (CFI) supported BUILD Napak and Green Kabale / Rubanda Projects in Uganda:

SHA received funding from Community Foundation Ireland (CFI) to support 1,000 smallholder farmers in Napak District for a period of 3 years (2023-2025). The Building Livelihood and Resilience in Napak (BUILD) focuses on increasing climate smart agricultural production, improving market opportunities, financial inclusion, enterprise skills and household nutrition and WASH practices. CFI is also funding SHA through the Sustainable Landscapes for Resilient Livelihoods and Growing Resilience and Eco Enterprise (GREEN) project aimed at strengthening eco-businesses and climate-resilient livelihoods in the Lake Bunyonyi sub-catchment in the District of Kabale and Rubanda in Western Uganda.

The implementation of the two CFI funded projects that commenced in January 2023 will end by December 2025. It’s therefore essential to capture the work done in the last 3 years through a visual storytelling approach that captures lessons learned, best practices, challenges and success stories. This documentation will serve as a reference for learning, knowledge sharing, advocacy, replication and reporting to stakeholders.

Overall purpose of the video documentary:

The primary purpose of the videos is to communicate the significant impact of both BUILD and GREEN projects. By visually demonstrating the achievements and transformative changes experienced by the project participants, the videos will effectively showcase how these projects have contributed to improved livelihood, enhanced food security, sustainable natural resource management and green economy. This compelling narrative will highlight the real-world benefits of these interventions. The videos can be used by CFI to showcase the impact of their support to SHA and can be used by SHA to engage with individual and institutional donors to highlight the impact we can with ongoing support for our work across the various countries.

Scope of work

Before-and-After Comparisons:

The videos will present before-and-after comparisons of project sites, illustrating the physical and environmental changes that have occurred due to project interventions. This visual evidence will clearly represent improvements, such as:

• Increased crop yields
• Enhanced soil health
• Restored biodiversity
• Diversified sources of income
• Improved hygiene and sanitation

Deliverables of the assignment:

1. Inception report including a detailed plan outlining the approach for content collection and documentary production.
2. Development of 6 mini documentaries specific to 3 outcomes per project of approximately 2 minutes long.
3. Create a longer version of the documentary capturing all the 6 outcomes from the two projects.
4. Photographs. The successful vendor will be required to capture at least 25 high-quality photographs of beneficiaries in each location. These should be captioned (using the attended information gathering form that curates variables such as name, location, age, what they are doing plus an aspirational quotation).
5. Subtitles and Translations, the vendor must also provide real-time translation into English of all interviews being taken.
6. Consent Forms: The successful vendor must fill Self Help Africa’s Consent forms for each person appearing, and adhere to Self Help Africa’s Safeguarding guidelines.
7. Comprehensive script for the documentary approved by SHA, detailing the storyline, key messages, and visuals to be included.
8. Raw footage: The vendor will provide ALL the footage filmed for SHA on this assignment, with captions and descriptions, as well as the ‘working files’ (through Adobe Premiere Pro programme or any other relevant video editing- including all raw materials such as music, subtitles, and other treatments).
9. Final versions of the documentary in suitable formats for broadcasting, meeting professional standards of audio-visual quality and storytelling.

Activity Timeline

The assignment is expected to take not more than 14 working days. A draft copy shall be submitted to Self Help Africa by the 22nd of August 2025 and final copy by 29th of August 2025. Upon receipt, the project team shall discuss and make necessary recommendations and together with the consultant fine tune the final product expectations.

Qualification and experience of the consultants

1. The consultant and associates are expected to have adequate knowledge in photography, documentation / storytelling, cinematography, sound design or related fields of study.
2. Demonstrated expertise conducting professional documentary with at least 5 years of relevant working experience in similar field.
3. Outstanding video editing and story writing skills
4. Good written communication skills in English and experience in script writing, and oral communication skills.
5. Availability and willingness to travel up-country to the project sites
6. High level of creativity and innovativeness.

The Terms of Reference and the evaluation Criteria for the assignment can be downloaded at CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD DOCUMENTS RELEVANT TO THIS TENDER.

Qualified candidates should submit:

• Technical and financial proposals (separately)
• Company Profile
• Recommendation letters
• Curriculum vitae of staff that will participate with development of the documentary

Tagged as: Self Help Africa, Uganda