Title Any further questions, please reach out to Procurement@selcofoundation.org
Role Assessment, Research, and Documentation
Geography Assam and Meghalaya
Timeline 1 Months
Form to Submit https://forms.gle/mkZExmXzEBwUc1mB9

About SELCO Foundation:

SELCO Foundation is an open-source research and development organization whose role is to implement solutions to generate learnings that can be replicated in various developing contexts. The sericulture vertical at SELCO Foundation aims to demonstrate how sustainable technological innovations combined with appropriate financial and ownership models can lead to a demonstrable increase in resilience and safety nets for small Eri growers.

The context for the project:

Sericulture is one of the major livelihood activities in the North East region of India. However, there exists various kinds of issues in the different value chain nodes of this sector. To streamline the processes for different value chain nodes in Sericulture like farming, rearing, yarn processing, weaving, production, marketing activity for the sustainable livelihood purpose, there is an urgent need of decentralized, need based and locally available technological, social, and financial solutions. This will advantage them by increasing the productivity of the output as well and hence their earning level.

Therefore, there is a scope of development and understanding the usage of Rearing houses, processing machines, conducting training and capacity building, policy level work, access to financial inclusion and market linkages through different channels for audiences belonging to different Silk value chain nodes.

Rationale and Objectives of the study:

SELCO Foundation has considered this as one of the key resources for livelihood, particularly for the women. Initially Eri silk yarn was handspun in a very crude way in Assam & Meghalaya, which takes a lot of time for the process of eri to be spined & also not very efficient. There are also other machines available in the market which are not very productive. Over about half a decade we have deployed solutions for converting cocoons to yarn by using solar powered spinning machines. In this machine a maximum of 20-30 grams of high quality yarn can be found in an hour. It is portable which is very light and easy to carry. It has a switch which can control the speed of rotating spindle along Page 2 of 4 with the ring attached to. As its main working principle is Ring Spinning system. There is a provision of light for convenience in getting yarn at night or less later. If the machine operates in a battery as it is in the rural area as we all know that there will be no current supply available, then there is a system that can run for a maximum of 2 hrs without any disposal (Battery Backup). The body of the machine is built by fiber ply which is water resistant. There are two motors fixed in this machine, one motor is used to run the spindle with the help of belt attached to it & another one for the movement of gear in rack and pinion system (it comprises a circular gear which we called it Pinion engaging a linear gear(rack) which operate to translate rotational motion into linear motion. Driving the pinion into the rotation causes the rack to be driven linearly. There is another switch for movement of rack and pinion. These solutions are implemented with both individual end user and collective models with different modes of financing. Through this activity we are planning to understand the efficacy and holistic impact of the solution. Also get a deeper insight of the eri silk sector in the regions of Assam and Meghalaya.

Goal:

The study seeks to evaluate Solar Powered Eri spinning as a solution and benchmark the solutions package in terms of technology, contextualized to user typology, economics, ownership and financial models.

Scope of work for Value chain Assessment

1. Landscape Study

  • To Identify the best practices and learnings in Eri spinning.
  • To capture different models through case studies.
  • Study the Eri silk growing clusters and the typical practices followed by community (e.g. Host Plant Farming, Rearing, Yarn Processing, Weaving of Silk products)
  • To find critical Eri spinning needs and gaps in the Eri silk value chain.
  • Detailed demand estimation for both Eri silk & products and the energy gap that can be catered to by DRE driven spinning units with respect to different scale and ownership.
  • Map the major Supply chain components. (Selling of cocoon and yarn available in the local market)
  • Map the aspects such as stakeholder mapping, catered markets, training and hand-holding programs and status, policies, priority and awareness, subsidies etc.

2. Impact Evaluation of Solar Powered Spinning Machine Technologies

Assess the existing Solar Powered Eri spinning machine Implemented by SELCO Foundation, in partnership with various other organizations in Assam and Meghalaya. Study their existing operational model and business model, utilization, market linkages, gaps and aspiration. Map specific vulnerable communities or users adopting these solutions.

We primarily would like to assess the aspects of:

❖ Performance of Technology:

  • Performance of Solar PV System
  • Performance and Utilization of the Spinning Machine
  • Appropriateness of the machine

❖ Productivity

  • Changes in Productivity and Quality of Yarn
  • Market Linkage Channels Grown
  • Reduction in Drudgery (Qualitative and Quantitative)
  • Ease of carrying out the activity

❖ Business and Financial Model

  • Enhance in Income
  • Economic and Business Model
  • Any further value addition added

    ❖ Post Installation maintenance and troubleshooting

Indicative methodology:

Combination of primary and secondary research, surveys, stakeholder consultations, key informant interviews, User interviews & analysis and an indicative list of respondents from all ecosystem components in broad categories.

Expected Deliverables:

1. Impact Assessment

  • Inception report
  • Develop a draft report and final report based on review by SELCO Foundation and key stakeholders.
  • The report should cover the two specific aspects of Landscape Study and Impact Assessment
  • To develop Report/Deck on performance and feasibility to decentralized solar energy driven Eri spinning machine
  • Participate in weekly check-ins to review the progress and direction of the assessment, and present every month to the internal review team (across Sericulture, knowledge, policy, and FIs teams on key outputs and next steps)
  • Final Reports

2. Landscaping study

  • Inception report – with final methodology and literature review of the Eri ecosystem.
  • Stakeholder map/list.
  • Draft report of key findings on learnings, best practices, gaps and challenges – overall and geography-wise.
  • Final report of key findings on learnings, best practices, gaps and challenges – overall and geography-wise.
  • PPT summarizing key findings

Qualification of Consultant:

  • To conduct the landscape study the consultant should have prior expertise in sericulture domain especially different processes followed for Eri Silk
  • For the study the consultant must have minimum 8-10 years of working experience in knowledge and research in the sericulture sector.
  • For Impact assessment study previous experience in Monitoring and Evaluation is must along with understanding of performance evaluation of technology, business model and utilization.

Timeline:

Deliverables START DATE END DATE
Landscaping study and draft report Sat, 22/08/2023 Fri, 05/09/2023
Field data analysis and draft Report Sat, 30/08/2023 Tue, 15/09/2023
Final Compiled Deck Wed, 16/09/2023 Thu, 22/09/2023

Process:

Interested consultants/organizations are requested to send their CVs, with a note on previous experience relevant to this project (maximum of 1 page on last experience). Submit the details to the google form https://forms.gle/mkZExmXzEBwUc1mB9 on before 20th August 2023.

Any further queries, please write to procurement@selcofoundation.org

Apply Now