CALL FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICE TO PROVIDING JEWELLERY TRAINING TO LAPIDARIES AND JEWELERS
1. BACKGROUND
MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) is an organization dedicated to creating business solutions to poverty. MEDA’s Global Affairs Canada-funded EMERTA project (meaning leaping to a great height in Amharic) runs for six (6) years, from 2016 to 2022 with the objective of contributing to increased income and employment opportunities for 16,000 entrepreneurs and 275
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) focusing on three value chains: rice, vegetables and gemstones.
1.2. EMERTA Value Chain Project
EMERTA, is committed to increasing sustainable employment and income generation for women and men in Amhara region of Ethiopia in the three sectors, with a focus on women. The project is committed to increasing sustainable employment and incomes for women and men in Amhara by improving business performance of producers and MSMEs that buy from and supply inputs, equipment, and services to them. Simultaneously, the project will help business service providers, training institutions and government bodies to more effectively reach and serve women and men, providing improved, more gender-sensitive and environmentally sustainable services that foster growth of producers and MSMEs in the targeted sectors.
The focus of the project’s interventions in the gems sector is to help create employment and to support Ethiopia’s increased capture of value from this natural resource. The project will contribute to reduction of the illegal market of gems by facilitating changes that will increase revenues and opportunity for market actors in the legal sector thereby making participation in the legal sector more attractive. Interventions will also support sector actors to provide the quality required by international markets while stimulating demand in local and tourist markets within Ethiopia.
MEDA has been conducted research to identify issues that constrain growth of the gems sector and recognized the following bottlenecks as a serious issue; lapidary training programs are not providing adequate instruction to develop skills that meet international standards, training does not include business skills and health, safety and environment management information, limited mobility makes it difficult for women in rural communities to link to buyers or take up employment in urban areas, burdensome government regulations create incentives for illegal trade, no industry association effectively communicates private sector concerns and recommendations to government, coordinated international marketing of Ethiopian gems is lacking, local and tourism markets or Ethiopian gems is underdeveloped, brokers and lapidaries lack access to finance to smooth their cash flow cycles, and exporters lack access to financial services that can ensure international buyers have confidence when making full advance payments.
Accordingly, MEDA’s EMERTA project has come with the below stated interventions to mitigate the identified constraints. On the supply side; improve lapidary skills to meet demands of international market through upgrading curriculum and training provided by TVETs, increase access to finance by lapidary businesses through matching grants and loan guarantee funds to stimulate lending by financial institutions and develop a financial Letter of Guarantee to secure deposits made by gems buyers and build trust between buyers and sellers. On the demand side, expand jewelry production that features Ethiopian gems by encouraging innovation through matching grants, stimulate consumer interest in Ethiopian gems through marketing campaigns and promote the durability and stability of Ethiopian opals in international markets by supporting articles in credible trade journals. On regulation; convene a sector dialogue group bringing exporters and government regulators together and provide information and exposure to good regulatory practices in other gems producing countries.
Thus, as part of this activity, MEDA has planned to deliver Jewelry skill training to lapidaries and jewelers affiliated from Bahir Dar, Gondar, Woldia, Dessie, Lalibela and Debre Birihan towns and Delanta woreda.
2. Purpose of the Training
The main aim of the training would be to provide quality jewelry skill training that will be highly contribute for the promotion of Ethiopian gemstone using fixing commercial grade stones (semi-precious stones) with metals (gold, silver and bronze) and supply to local and tourist market.
3. Expected Result of the Training
At the end of the training, MEDA expects that the trainees will have gain the necessary jewelry making skills anticipated to acquire such as fixing commercial grade stones with metals, wrapping commercial grade stones with wire, silver, bronze, and others for making different pendants (necklaces, earrings, rings, etc.) using gemstone products.
4. Scope of the work
The training would be provided to jewelers and lapidaries. The scope of the work for both, shall include, but not limited to the following;
· Training contents:
ü Commercial grade stone identification by color and pattern as well as slicing/cutting.
ü Using standard template and producing different (by size and shape) polished stones.
ü Design and fixing polished stones with metals (silver and bronze) and making complete set of pendants (ear rings, necklaces and hand rings).
ü Wrapping polished commercial grade stones (free form and shaped) with metals (wire, silver bronze, and other necessary materials).
ü Mold/shape formation.
ü Bead drilling and jewelry casting.
ü Application of designed templates for mass production of gems-jewelries for commercial business.
ü Adding extra skill is recommended and it will be considered as an area of competency.
· Training materials (both in Amharic and English) for the training shall be submitted before the training.
· Final report shall be submitted at the end of the training.
Remark; The trainees should be required to practically demonstrate each skill and while doing this it is expected that each trainee will consume an average of 20 grams of silver, 50 grams of bronze and 1/5th of a roll (5 rolls total) of wire (copper).
5. Venue, Date and Number of Trainees
The training will be delivered at Amhara Regional State, Bahir Dar or Gondar Poly Technic College Lapidary Workshop tentatively scheduled on end of June 2018 for 10 (ten) consecutive days except Sunday. The number of the trainees will be 25.
Required competencies The consultant /trainer must have:
Education
§ BSc in Gemology, Lapidary, Jewelry and Geology and /or in related fields
§ Diploma/certificate in jewelry making skill and/or level III/IV certificate in lapidary skill
§ Level III/IV CoC certificate (Certificate of Competence) in lapidary skill
Experience
§ At least 2 years for Degree, 3 years for diploma and 4 years for certificate on jewelry training or in making jewels made from gemstone fixed with metals (gold, silver and bronze) at public/ private business.
§ Having mounting/fixing and wrapping skill gemstone with metal is mandatory
§ Having faceting skill is an asset.
§ The consultant/trainer who will be considered for the training will be required to practically demonstrate mold/shape making, fixing and wrapping of polished gemstone with metals.
§ The consultant/trainer who have a full-fledged training workshop in Amhara region or Addis Ababa can submit a proposal with this consideration to provide the training using his/her workshop.
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