[Updated] MARKUP Photography Contest : Call for Entries

The EU-Funded Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP) implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is offering the chance for talented and creative photographers to showcase their work to a broader audience.

Photographers, both professional and amateur, are invited to submit work that showcases MARKUP’s commitment towards supporting smallholder farmers, strengthening regulatory frameworks and creating awareness on food safety issues; divided into six (6) categories.

Themes

The six (6) categories, are as follows:

1. MARKUP Focus Value Chains: These are french beans and snow peas, mangoes, passion fruit, chilies, nuts, herbs and spices.
2. Quality Infrastructure: QI is the system comprising the organizations (public and private) together with the policies, relevant legal and regulatory framework, and practices needed to support and enhance the quality, safety and environmental soundness of goods, services and processes. It relies on metrology, standardization, accreditation, conformity assessment, and market surveillance. In the MARKUP context, photos in this category should illustrate laboratory testing activities or images of agricultural goods with the KEBS standardization mark.
3. Food Safety: Food safety describes handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. Photos in this category should show proper handling of fresh produce from the farm level, down to the consumer.
4. Trade: Photos in this category should illustrate trade activities, be it in a market setting, supermarket, or e-commerce. Also, relevant would be capturing transportation of produce to the marketplace.
5. Women in Agriculture: MARKUP recognizes the key role women play in rural development and is committed towards empowering their economic growth. Photos should show women participating in agricultural activities at any stage of the value chain.
6. Youth in Agriculture: Although there is a huge market potential on horticulture, farming population is aging. Photos should show individuals in the age group of 18-30 years, participating in agricultural activities at any stage of the value chain.

Awards

For the 1st Overall Prize, the winner will receive KSh 75,000 and each winner in the 6 categories will receive a Cash Prize of KSh 25,000. All the winners will also receive a Certificate from MARKUP.

A wider selection of images from the six categories will be showcased on the MARKUP Kenya social media accounts. The image with the most likes on the MARKUP Facebook page will qualify for the People’s Choice Award, with a Cash Prize of KSh 50,000 and a Certificate from MARKUP.

Criteria

The winning images will be selected according to:

1. The degree to which the image conveys the themes in the categories.
2. The images overall visual impact, creativity and originality.
3. Compliance with the technical requirements and recommendations.

Image Rights

The authors of all the submitted images will retain the copyrights to their work.

By submitting their images, authors grant EU-EAC MARKUP the right to use the submitted images for non-commercial and visibility purposes, always crediting the authors.

Eligibility

The competition is open to photographers based in Kenya. Entrants must be at least 18 years old.

The photographers must be the authors and copyright owners of the images submitted in their name.

Submission

Entries must be submitted through an online link (Dropbox, WeTransfer, google drive, etc.) to contest@markupkenya.org and will be accepted until midnight EAT on 15th June 2021.

Apart from the image file(s), the online link will include a Word or PDF document per image with the complete name of the author, contact details i.e., email and phone number, county where they reside, the title of the image, and a caption or brief description (not more than 100 words) of the content of the image, its meaning or purpose.

All entries must be submitted as high-resolution, print-quality digital files, in vertical or horizontal layout.

Files for the photography competition must be submitted in jpeg format and aim to have a minimum of 4000 pixels on one side. In any case, whether or not your file meets this threshold, we strongly encourage you to provide it in the highest possible size and resolution.

Each candidate can submit a up to maximum of 10 separate entries per category.

The images must not contain logos, commercial material or people’s names, and must respect UN values. It shall not include any watermark, the author’s signature or the title of the artwork.

If the artwork features the face of a real person, the author must provide a signed document proving that the portrayed person has authorized the use of his or her image for non-commercial purposes. Our standard consent form can be downloaded here.

MARKUP withholds the right not to select a winner for each category, whereby the submissions do not satisfactorily represent the themes.

Announcement of Winners [Updated]

UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming number of entries we received, we have rescheduled the announcement of winners to the 15th July 2021. We shall have a virtual award ceremony during the World Youth Skills Day that will be Live-streamed on the MARKUP Kenya Facebook Page. Participants will receive an invite via email.

Thank you for your participation!