Proposed Program Design Framework- Phase II

8/8/2019 Proposed Program Design Framework- Phase II

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Exploration of value chains both geographically as well as sectorally (and sub-sectorally),

facilitated by the planning phase of the programme, gave ACCESS the leverage to closely

explore and understand the value chains in urban areas that will have significant impact

on urban poor hence provide a learning opportunity for the larger audience. One of the

important considerations ACCESS had while selecting a value chain that would have

significant impact on urban poverty alleviation; was that the selected sub-sector should be

a new generation growing value chain with its expansion potentials in domestic as well as

global markets as well as a potential for upscaling and replication. Out of various value

chains explored like retail, service sector, real estate, automobiles and others, ACCESS

finally pinned Costume Jewellery value chain for this programme; that fitted the bill both

in terms of its global and domestic growth as well as a significant number of urban poor

engaged. Various studies both global and Indian have pegged a significant growth of

jewellery sector (to which Costume jewellery is an integral part) of around 5% annually.

Global jewellery market in 2006 was to the tune of 146 billion USD with a predicted

growth of 50 billion USD by 2015 (KPMG study, 2006).

b. Summary of consortium members track recordACCESS is implementing this project through a consortium having rich and diverse

expertise that includes ACCESS as a lead partner having experience of executing

innovative models on livelihoods and value chains, local NGOs having presence and

experience and rapport with the target communities, Jaipur Jewellery Association (JJA)

which as it is, an unique institution of local manufacturers and producers engaged in

jewellery and technical resource persons with vivid and in-depth understanding on value

chains.

ACCESS Development Services is an outcome of significant experiences of CARE in

livelihoods promotion and microfinance technical services. In order to consolidate and

string together these experiences, CARE and DFID have supported the setting up of

ACCESS Development Services, a not-for-Profit Company with a mandate to providespecialized technical support services in the livelihoods and microfinance sectors. The

livelihoods experiences so far include building community-owned structures and

enhancing their abilities to access resources, services, inputs and entitlements and to

effectively negotiate with markets. With a qualified professional team, ACCESS has been

managing large and scaled up projects in the two core areas of focus viz. microfinance

technical services and livelihoods development support, at both the national and regional

levels. While on the ground, ACCESS supports the establishment of community structures

and works with local NGO-MFI partners, at another level, it provides technical support to

the poverty reduction efforts of the government by assisting in better implementation of

the programmes, and enabling more efficient delivery of services and benefits. ACCESS

strongly believes in providing and creating a forum of exchange and thus growth ofknowledge that is exemplified as the network of over 120 MFIs (under its AMFA network)

as well as creation of one of the largest platform i.e. microFinance India ( and Livelihoods

India) for organized growth of the sector.

ACCESS with its regional office in Jaipur, has been closely working with various

organizations like the government, NGOs, design institutions and trade bodies; as

partners. The implementation partners in the consortium i.e. JKSMS, BGVS and RAS have

been working with urban poor most of which are artisans engaged in jewellery, in Jaipur


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providing livelihoods support, microfinance services and education. With a cumulative

outreach of around 50,000 urban poor within the city, this consortium gives a significant

opportunity to infuse value chain development approach with effective impacts. These

organizations have been pioneers and well recognized for their efforts that ranges from

providing education support, organizing, microfinance to creating livelihoods

opportunities. This project is further enabling them to learn in the process, on integrated

and sustainable value chain approach which through collaborations and buy-ins from

concerned actors, can be easily replicated to cover the entire workforce of primary

artisans (200000 primary artisans). Collaboration with Jaipur Jewelers Association, is

ensuring larger support and consensus for the project in the industry and as envisaged is

leading the entire facilitation and continuance of the project efforts. The presence of

expert institutions and organizations in the jewellery sub-sector like the Costume

institutes in Jaipur, Gems and Jewellery Promotion Council, gives further impetus and

immense opportunity for the project to leverage and ensure prudency of the project.

ACCESS as a strategy has collaborated with other related agencies as resource

organizations and collaborators to the project, to ensure wider buy-ins and hence

collaborative efforts towards replication and sustainability of the efforts.

Targets: Jaipur has been a centre of gem processing since the mid 18 th Century and is now

the global hub for skilled labour to process semi-precious gems. From the 1970s, Jaipurs

gem heritage combined with the skill of its surrounding villages in traditional silver

ornaments, as a new mass market in silver ethnic jewellery was born. Today, Jaipurs

gem and metal jewellery sector is said to employ about 200,000 people, about 135,000 of

these in gem cutting and polishing (processing 95% of all semi-precious stones in the

country), and the balance in associated metalwork. The lac based jewellery sector is much

smaller (estimated to employ about 15,000). JJADe project is engaging with all three of

these sub-value chains, each of which offers its unique market rationale and challenges.

The JJADe project is working both intensively as well as extensively with the primary

artisans engaged in the Costume jewellery sub sector. Given the target population ofaround 200,000 the consortium feels that it would be ideal to reach out to atleast 10% of

the population to demonstrate impact replicability. So the interventions have so been

designed that through the various interventions, the JJADe project would have a direct

outreach of around 20,000 artisans.

c. Issues and Challenges that JJADe project intends to address are:The up-dation of the interventions is a continuous activity where the interventions are

updated as per the market needs. For formulation of the strategies the project had

identified the following constraints in the value chain:

- Lack of social identity, social security and access to Government benefitsThe whole value chain of the Jewelry sector has an element of trust which is built

between the job givers and the job takers and it takes years of relationship before the job

giver can rely on a new group of job takers and the entry is only with a reference. Lack of

having an Identity is one of the big reasons and thus through this project it is proposed to

get Identity cards made for at least 10% of the target population. Also, this card helps the

artisans access to highly subsidized Insurance schemes and through this intervention


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medical and social security would also be facilitated. This challenge is even harsher on the

vulnerable sections, like the migrants from West Bengal.

- Less Skilled WorkforceIn the times when throughout the world a formally skilled and educated artisan is believed

to earn more returns, the presence of less skilled work force directly impacts thecompetitiveness of this skill based industry. Low skill levels of the artisans also trap them

in the vicious cycle of low returns despite their inputs because nothing addresses the basic

problem of skill up-gradation. Factors like opaqueness of the value chain, lack of social

securities for the artisan base etc. add on to their lower productivity with no identity in

the value chain.

- Lack of a common Data Base and Information SourceIn the whole of this industry there exists no common data base that can inform about the

various value chain players operating at various levels of the value chain. Moreover they

is no common data base that has information on various trade related aspects like Fairs

etc. There is also a felt market need for a data base with information on Service providerslike Technology, Design, and Finance etc.

- Lack of Access to Formal FinanceMore than 90% of Indian workforce thrives on Informal economy, and most of whom have

not been parts of the economic development of country. This is largely because the

development has not been inclusive especially in terms of access to financial services and

products. The financial services and products which are available in the market require

some kind of collateral or security, which off course, is not plausible for the people from

the informal sector. Hence, the access and availability so far to these artisans has been

next to negligible. There is still a heavy reliance on the informal financial service providers

which results in finance at higher rate of interests and also pushes the low income artisansin a vicious debt cycle.

- Lack of Access to New and Improved TechnologyWithin the handicrafts sector, especially in the jewelry sector, the ministry of Textiles is

trying to bring in new and improved technology, emphasizing the need and the

importance of upgrading the technologies and bridging the information gap in the

information of the same. Unfortunately, the mechanism to bring down this technology to

the artisans who should actually be using it has been very poor. The dissemination

becomes easier when it comes to provide and illustrate new technology in a formal set up,

but for the informal set up like in the jewelry industry, it becomes very difficult. Also, due

to lack of education and means to avail information, the artisan at lowest level of the

value chain, is not able to have information and then access to new and improved

technology, even if its available at a subsidized price, or even if it improves the income

level of the artisans.

- Lack of access to New Designs as an opportunity for exploring New Markets


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The Market for Costume Jewellery is a market based on High Design Value Products where

the design life is comparatively small and hence needs continuous process of design

innovations. The artisans working at the lowest end of value Chain are still making the

designs that are outdated and are percolating down to them after getting exhausted in

the market resulting in no realized gains from the available Designs and no availability of

designs and design related trainings. Hence this pushes them to further low realizations of

the efforts that they put in and restricts the entry of their products into higher margin

markets.

Focus on Vulnerable Sections

These issues are addressed through multi-pronged project strategies with due focus on

interventions addressing and targeting vulnerable sections of the society. To address the

lack of education, the JJADe project has started supplementary schooling facilities that

provides services to around 100 youth are working in the value chain. The other major

social issue of migrants from West Bengal is being targeted through providing them legal

identities of being an artisan and with this they would be also linked with all the add onsubsidized schemes etc. for which these card holders are eligible. JJADe sees the potential

challenge of sustaining these initiatives which necessitates that these initiatives are

backed by market forces. And hence while employing these various strategies the basic

principles of Market development would be followed and every intervention would be

linked with the players who have their incentives in executing those.

Furthering its efforts, the project would cover around 20000 artisans under life and health

insurance schemes to better equip them to unforeseen risks. The issuance of ID cards

plays a significant role in facilitating the artisans accessing and benefiting from various

government programmes and schemes, besides providing them a social identity. As

elucidated, most of the trade in the value chain is based on trust and mutual recognition;

the ID cards would enable the artisans to create individual identity and space in the valuechain.

These issues are proposed to be addressed through multi-pronged project strategies. To

address the issue of the children who are working, JJADe has started alternative schooling

facilities that would provide services to around 100 children, working in the value chain.

Graduation from the level of artisan to enterprise owner as well as for investment in

production and technology up-gradation, microfinance services would be facilitated.

JJADe would also leverage various mandated programmes and schemes of the state and

central government.Furthering its efforts, the project would cover around 20000 artisans

under life and health insurance schemes to better equip them to unforeseen risks. The

issuance of ID cards will play a significant role in facilitating the artisans accessing and

benefiting from various government programmes and schemes, besides providing them a

social identity. As elucidated, most of the trade in the value chain is based on trust and

mutual recognition; the ID cards would enable the artisans to create individual identity

and space in the value chain.

One of the impediments for the producers to graduate themselves up in the value chain is

the lack of finance. The project has two pronged intervention to facilitate the finances

microfinance primarily to house-bound women to enable them enhance their productivity


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through procurement of raw materials and simple tools. The other being, linking the

producer groups to larger value chain finances through bank linkages that would allow

them to meet the financial requirements and thus better bargain and benefits within the

value chain.

The project strategies focusing on improved economy of artisans include well designed

technology, design and financial inputs as well as linkages to better and newer markets.One of the major bottlenecks of the entire industry is the lack of transparency and

information flow.

d. Learning and DisseminationThe overarching need of the project is to generate learning products that would be of

significant importance for the larger community engaged in designing and implementing

value chain based poverty alleviation interventions. The JJADe project has identified

critical learning agendas and learning products that would be exchanged both laterally to

the similar organizations within the country as well as vertically to international audience.

The entire learning process intends to enrich the learnings of the consortium as well as

benefit from sharing and exchange of learning with a wider stakeholders population.


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II. VALUECHAINDEVELOPMENT PLAN

Justification for selecting the value chain:

Costume Jewellery: a Growing Global Subsector

Costume jewellery is non-precious jewellery and used to refer to all jewellery which is

made from materials other than gold and diamonds. It is the segment of the Jewellery

which has a high design value and a comparatively is made in cheaper materials (as

compared to gold and diamond).

The global jewellery market was $146 billion in 2006, with a healthy growth rate of 5.2%

since 2000. Costume jewellery is a rising share of total global jewellery sales as the prices

of precious metals and supply problems with diamonds have turned the market focus to

more affordable products. In 2003, silver and costume jewellery sales to the EU market

were nearly a third of all jewellery sales in value and a much higher proportion of volume.

The EUs shift towards Costume jewellery reflects market conditions which include:- older

women becoming Costume aware over a longer period of time, the increasing brandingand integration of jewellery with other areas of Costume, the growing importance of

celebrity endorsement, and the entry of new users (children, teenagers, men) into the

market. The value proposition of precious jewellery weakens as style and glamour can be

more affordably achieved. Apart from teenagers and young women, even tweenies (8-12

year-olds) are now an established market segment for Costume jewellery, as are men who

purchase silver, neck-chains, bracelets, earrings and belt buckles. In the EU, lead

consumer countries are UK, France, Spain and Holland. These were the reasons that, even

in the times of recession, costume Jewllery because of its comparative low cost nature

had survived, where even a lot of Jewelers operating in the high end jewellery had to take

a re-course in this market because of its nature.

The sophistication of consumers searching for distinction, and the significance of mature

women as a market segment, mean that jewellery retailers are asked increasingly to

account for the social and environmental conditions under which their products are

sourced. Costume jewellery is sold increasingly as an accessory to apparel through such

branded garment stores, and it seems inevitable that it will be subject to the same critical

appraisal by press and public.

A key report on the sector (KPMG 2006) seeks to map the prospects for precious and

Costume jewellery over the coming years. While concluding that industry prospects are

bright, particularly for the non-precious segment, it highlights two critical challenges for

global jewellery, first the growing price of raw materials (in the case of Costume jewellery,

silver and semi-precious stones) and second, acute seasonality as products are gearedever more to Costume with shorter shelf lives. Forty percent of EU retail sales, for

example, take place in the run-up to Christmas.

The report predicts the following shifts over the next few years:-

(i) mining countries will capture a growing share of the gem processing sector

(ii) increasing substitution of semi-precious with non-precious and synthetic stones

(iii) global sales growth of 4-5% annually


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(iv) there will be consolidation in jewellery supply chains, as a handful of players integrate

and become dominant, high-volume polishers and mass jewellery fabricators emerge, and

retail formats diversify.

India as a global production hub

Most of Indias handicraft sectors are predominantly urban-based, but jewellery is unique

in being an established sector which is a significant employer, andwhich is still growing.

Other major employers in handicrafts include woodwork, pottery and handloom, but

while these sectors contribute far more employment than they do income, jewelers

income contribution (to handicrafts as a whole) is well over twice the employment it

provides. The potential for jewellery to provide quality livelihoods, at living wages, is

therefore much greater than these other artisanal sectors. Within jewellery, Costume

jewellery is not only set to grow faster than precious, but also incorporates a much higher

proportion of poor wage workers and artisans, since it dominates the informal sector

units. The higher the value of material, we learned, the more barriers to entry are faced

by poor workers in entering the sector. Indias established strength in jewellery, however,is the base from which it is poised for growth in its global position in Costume jewellery.

India is best known as a production centre and a significant market for precious jewellery,

dominated by diamond studded and plain gold. Fifty percent of the worlds diamond

roughs are cut and polished in India, and India contributes significantly to global exports in

gold, silver and semi-precious stones. Along with China and Thailand, India dominates

developing country jewellery imports into EU and US. Though developing countries share

remained only a third of EU imports in 2002, this is growing fast as production in Europe

downscales. Of the $50 billion growth projected for the global jewellery sector by 2015,

Indian producers will capture 17% (KPMG 2006). India, along with Turkey, scores better

than other producing countries1 against the full range of competitive strength criteria: it

not only has a deep base in the three major jewellery segments of diamond studded, plaingold and gemstones, but also offers a large domestic market, the availability of skilled

labour at the lowest prices, and superior design skills. An increasing proportion of

production is predicted to shift to developing countries, among which India and China are

set to lead.

India as market

India has always been an extremely important market for precious jewellery. In 2005 it

contributed more than 8% global sales. The largest market is for plain gold and gold

studded jewellery for weddings. While products will continue to be sought for their

longevity, more and more women perceive their jewellery as an appendage of their

personality and lifestyle rather than a family heirloom. There is a growing market for less

heavy and lower priced items which reflect the tradition of symbolic-led design. Precious

stones have, for several generations, been mapped with astrological charts, but the

popularity of stone-led jewellery has mushroomed as more Indians consult astrologers for

1Other major global producers are China, Turkey and Thailand.


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horoscopes and such specialists advice on stone selection more easily fitted to the pockets

of the middle and lower-middle class.

Indias distinctive apparel (saris, lengas, salwar kameez) becomes ever more Costume-

defined, as the influence of TV and celebrity branding spreads across smaller towns and

cities, and the country launches rapidly in to modern retail and brand stores selling ready-

made couture garments and lifestyle products. These taste and retail trends are openingthe scope for costume and designer jewellery, which is still nascent. Two of Indias leading

garment retailers, Pantaloons and Fabindia, have recently launched costume jewellery

collections. Traditional jewellery retailers are increasingly marketing cheaper costume and

imitation jewellery alongside precious collections. Costume Week, an annual institution in

several Indian metros, now showcases jewellery alongside apparel. India and China are

set to emerge as the next market leaders, together matching US retail sales by 2015.

Many of the market and sector trends discussed above are opportunities for Indias young

Costume jewellery sector and the artisans and workers engaged in its supply chains. With

its mix of cheap labour, design flare and sectoral heritage, India is well set up to grow and

consolidate its position, as global production reorganizes geographically. With itsflourishing Costume industry in homegrown and western style, the domestic market is

likely to offer growing opportunities. Even the constraints biting many producers and

markets could be a fillip to India. The rising prices of raw materials are pushing the market

towards cheaper materials (glass and cheap stone in place of semi-precious, treated and

even enameled copper and brass in place of silver), in search of aesthetic appeal and

design content. It is an opportunity to promote craft (the combine of skill and tradition)

fueled by a re-gearing to contemporary taste. The changing profile and growing Costume

orientation of jewellery consumers in the West offer favorable prospects to render supply

chain working conditions more visible and to promote fair trade in costume jewellery.

Jewelry Industry in Jaipur

There are several centers for jewellery production in India. In value terms, Surat (Gujarat)

leads but its contribution is almost exclusively in the cutting and polishing of diamonds.

Mumbai is a major centre of all-round production in gem and metal-based jewellery. But

its sector is more organized and the use of technology and mechanization is higher. We

sought out a production hub where jobs in the informal economy were less secure and

workers would be more at liberty to join initiatives and access the inputs which our

project could provide. We looked closely at Domjur, Howrah District in West Bengal,

famous for gold cast jewellery. After two field visits, we concluded that a project would be

hard to justify. Wages in Domjur are significantly higher than the surrounding area,

supplemented by remittances from migrant artisans in the Gulf. Skill levels and entry

barriers are also high and the access of artisans to end markets is relatively strong and

direct.

Searching for poor working conditions, scope for intervention and the right partners to

work with, Access turned to Jaipur. A team of five (two Access staff and three consultants)

has participated in at least one of six visits to the city, lasting between one and three days.

Visits comprised meetings with prospective partners and stakeholders and a wide range of

visits to units in the informal as well as the formal sectors. Access has an office in Jaipur

and while this will be the first project in the city itself, we have built up experience in


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made locally by particular communities, Manehars among Muslims, and the Lakheras

among Hindus. Bangle producers face a tough challenge to their market from makers of

glass and plastic bangles. The survival of this communitys birth occupation will depend on

whether they can innovate. The unique versatility of lac lends itself to immense product

possibilities if the right design and technology can be brought to bear.

And it was very importantly realized that these 3 (three) categories of the materials aremerging into the broader Costume Jewellery Value Chain and hence the strategies and

interventions designed in the project are targeting the issues and challenges posing a

threat to the Value chain of the Costume Jewllery as a whole and at the same time

ensuring a clear focus on poor and vulnerable sections of artisans involved.

For understanding of the same and for ensuring the sustainability of the interventions, all

the interventions were based on the market information and baseline information

analyzed by the project.

Baseline Survey Summary

The baseline for the project was conducted to assess the base information which wouldbe used to assess the impact, once the project would be over. The baseline information

was gathered on the following eight indicators, which would then be compared with the

data at the time of impact study:

Net Income Enterprises

Net Income Artisans

Progress out of Poverty

Social Status

Change in Returns to Labor

People impacted by community level change or impact on broader society

Change in IncomeJobs created

In order to attribute the change which will be assessed (if there is any), to the project

interventions, a control group was also selected, and there data was also gathered. The

percentage change between the control group and participant group will then be

evaluated, to attribute the perceived change to the project.

Net Income Enterprise

The average monthly net income of the small unit holders who were surveyed for the

costume jewelry value chain, is Rs. 8225, as compared to Rs. 7333 of the Enterprises fromthe Control Group, which is a 12% higher, since the baseline was conducted at a time,

when the project was already on the ground for 10 months.

Net Income Artisans

The Average monthly Net income for the artisan in the Value Chain is Rs. 3337, as

compared with the Control Group which is Rs 2890, again with a perceivable difference of

15%, for the reason stated above.


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Progress Out of Poverty

The Progress Out of Poverty Tool is a poverty measuring tool developed by Gramin Bank

Foundation. As far as the urban poverty scenario of Indian Slums are concerned, there

were certain constraints in measuring poverty with this tool, as certain parameters

become irrelevant. As per this tool, the sample surveyed for the baseline, is already has

more than 77% of likelihood of being out of poverty.

Social Status

To measure the social status of the artisans and the enterprises, the parameter decided

was the Insurance coverage under the social security measures. Since, the baseline

questions were asked in retrospect, it is assumed, that the number of people possessing

any Insurance Coverage is zero. This is coupled with the facts that the survey was

conducted with the people, the project is already working with, and the Insurance which

the project is facilitating can only be done with the people possessing Artisan ID Cards,

and the Project is working with people who do not have Artisan ID Cards. Hence, the

number of people having any kind of Insurance Coverage is zero, at the time of baseline.

Change in Returns to Labor

This indicator is basically to assess the income earned by the artisan/Enterprise per

hour. The data in baseline reveals that the Artisans on an average earn Rs 16.5 per hour

from the Participant Group, and from the Control Group, the income per hour is Rs 13.3.

In case of Unit Holders from the Participant Group, the income earned per hour Rs. is 35.5

as compared to the Control Group Unit Holders, who are earning Rs 30.7 per hour. This

means that the Unit Holders/Enterprises are already getting 15% more returns to labor as

compared to the Control Group, whereas the Artisans are getting 24% more returns on

their labor as compared to their Control Group. ( These difference in figures have to be

attributed to the presence of the project on ground as there baseline was conducted after

10 months of the project field life was over whereas when the groups were selected for

reference the income difference was not taken more than 10%).

People impacted by community level change or impact on broader society

To assess the community level broader change by the project interventions, the will and

interest of people to come together and function as a group, was decided as the indicator

to measure. Since, the baseline is done in retrospect, so for Baseline, it is assumed that

the number of Groups are zero.

Most of the members in the groups were not in the habit of Savings before they become

members of the groups. As referred in the Table 4, only 25.89% of the people surveyed

were doing any kind of savings as far as the sample group is concerned. In case of the

Control Group, the percentage of people doing any kind of savings is 8.51%. The

difference between the sample and the Control Group seems to be large, because, as

mentioned earlier, about the delay in the baseline, the Sample Groups have started

Savings either individually or in Groups, due to project interventions.

Change in Income


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This indicator is to assess the percentage change in the income of the artisans and

enterprise, from year to year. The Baseline information of the same has been stated in the

first two indicators, and will be compared with the next survey information.

Jobs Existing

Sectors Existing Jobs

Artisans 1029.965 for a sample size of

910

147.24 for a sample size of 107

1177.2 for a sample of 1017

Unit Holders

TOTAL

SECTOR

The table is self explanatory. The existing jobs in the industry are 1029.97 for the Artisans

and for the Enterprises, the existing jobs are 147.24 and now at the end the project would

be mapping the number of additional jobs created.

Project Strategies

Overall Approach

The good prospects for the costume jewellery are more than evident, even in the times of

recession, costume Jewllery because of its comparative low cost nature had survived.

Moreover a lot of Jewelers operating in the high end jewellery also entered this market

because

of its

nature.


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The foregoing pages have demonstrated that factors such as poverty, social structures,

lack of market access and low trust, combine to keep many of Jaipurs small producers and

workers in conditions of weakness and poverty. To design the interventions a clear set of

constraints were identified as operating in the sector. The project tackles these

constraints through a range of strategic interventions such as the provision of insurance,

education and training, provision of finance, technology and assistance to organize for

improved wages and incomes.

Each of these operate on three principles built into the design. First, a commitment to

draw in existing institutions and providers to the neighborhoods of the target group so

that support and services are sustained after the project. Second, to facilitate access to

resources already allocated with the government through various schemes, thereby

leveraging our project funds to secure a lot more. Third, to seek and explore ways by which

the inputs we make in the value chain might ultimately be suppliers and employers . This

being the true essence of a Market Based Approach, the project draws its strength by

designing interventions that promote the incentivized players for investing and

implementing the interventions where the project is only addressing and resolving the

blockages that were preventing the players from doing the same earlier.

Value Chain Development Interventions

The Progress in the Phase I

Jaipurs gem and metal jewellery sector is said to employ about 200,000 people, a bout

135,000 of these in gem cutting and polishing (processing 95% of all semi-precious stones

in the country), and the balance in associated metalwork. The lac based jewellery sector is

much smaller (estimated to employ about 15,000). JJADe project engages with all three of

these sub-value chains, each of which offers its unique market rationale and challenges

and each of which merges into the broader value chain of the Costume Jewellery. The

project worked both intensively as well as extensively with the primary artisans engagedin the Costume jewellery sub sector. Given the target population of around 200,000 the

consortium felt that it would be ideal to reach out to at least 10% of the population to

demonstrate impact replicability. So the interventions have so been designed that through

the various interventions, the JJADe project would have a direct outreach of around

20,000 artisans. The project also aims at building sectoral leadership through its Project

Advisory Committee and would bring various issues at the level of policy advocacy

through this platform.

1. Issuance of Artisans ID Cards:

As described earlier, the informal sector workers of Jaipurs jewellery supply chains are

heavily concentrated in specific neighborhoods: gem processors in peripheral slums in theeast and south east of the city, Bengali metalworkers in and close to the edge of the old

city, and lac workers in the north-western suburb of Jhotwara. High poverty and low

education means that many workers and artisans have no access to health insurance or

other forms of protection such as savings and life insurance. As migrants, the Bengalis face


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the additional problem that many of them lack identification in acceptable forms 3. As a

result, they also lack access to services which depend on these identification forms, such

as a bank account, access to schools, and access to government welfare schemes.

For the last three years, the Ministry of Textiles (DC Handicrafts) has been issuing Artisan

Cards, an innovative form of identification tailored to those workers involved in hand-

based work in recognized handicraft sectors. As with many government schemes in India,the cards have not been effectively rolled out because of the transaction costs and paper

requirements involved in acquiring them. Artisan cards offer a form of recognized identity

to artisan workers, facilitating access to institutional credit and government schemes.

Most important, they are also the means to acquiring insurance products, financial

products and other various schemes at rates heavily subsidized by the government. So

far, JJADe has been functioning more on the service delivery approach to test the ground

information and to establish the base for testing the service models. Under the Service

Delivery model, the project was testing the NGOs as the Service Agents for facilitating the

operations related to the issuance of the ID Cards through Development Commissioner of

Handicrafts (DCH). Under this, 2130 Artisan ID Cards have been made and distributed to

the artisans and around 3000 have been applied.

2. Insurances

Since the industry is facing the problem of retaining the skilled force, as the artisans lack

the social security measures. The unforeseen circumstances force them to shift to

unskilled livelihood options. To address this problem, the intervention of insurance

coverage was designed. Keeping the Service model in mind, which the project so far has

been testing, there have been 2 important developments in Insurance coverage. Firstly

JKSMS, one of the NGO partner has become the nodal agency for the Governments

Pension and LIC Scheme, for the insurance of the people working in the informal sector.

The organization is operating on the basis of the commission which they are receiving

from the Insurance company to deliver the service. Secondly, JJADe is first of its kind toprovide insurance as a standalone product without clubbing it with micro finance

product. Under the project, there have been 1311 Insurances been issued, and some 1800

are in pipelines.

3. School for Working Children

Many working class Muslims involved in gem processing and lac production, are ready to

put boys and girls into work at a young age. This tendency and the very low (no) wages

paid, is justified by arguments that the children are learning, and are gaining their

traditional skills at a very young age. But because they are working in a house based

enterprise and are a part of a household livelihood option and hence are contributing to

the incomes of the house without being employed by any external factor, they arereferred to as working children. Hence the project employs a much customized approach

of providing a need based education to these children by setting up a school imparting

non formal education, life skills, financial literacy and skill up-gradation trainings for

3 The three standard forms of identification recognized in India are the ration card, election

card and driving license. India has no system of centralized personal identification.


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enhancing their competitiveness by increasing their capacities and making them a more

informed workforce. The project will try building on the experience of JKSMS in delivering

low cost, alternative schooling to working children in gem processing neighborhoods. Each

school established would cater to 100 children on a part-time basis so that children can

continue to work for limited hours each day if they need.

This intervention was designed, keeping in mind the lack of qualityand customized education, which leads to the less market responsive, and less educated

workforce in the jewelry sector. The school, ILM (Interactive Learning Methods), is trying

to evolve an innovative curriculum, where the non formal education will be clubbed with

Life Skill trainings, Financial Literacy and Technical training from the Trade itself.

The school was formally inaugurated on 1st, February, 2010, in Bishtiyon ka Mohalla. A

baseline to scan the existing number of children who are not going to school was

conducted in the catchment area. The baseline helped in shortlisting the children who

should be involved. The school has girls and boys in 60 is to 40 ratio, with an average of

120 students attending the school. The school is already giving financial literacy through

an interactive method of Child Development Khazana (CDK), where children deposit theirsmall savings, and the office bearers of the school are the Representatives from the

children themselves. Indian Institute for Crafts and Design have shown interest in

developing short term courses for the children in the age bracket of 14-18 years.

4. Transformative Finance:

Due to the lack of formal sector financial services to the people from the lower economic

cadre, there is an inflow of various informal financial services. The rates of interest

charged informally are exorbitant, and the payment mechanism is also irregular. To

address the regular cash flow problem in the jewelry industry, specially with the artisans

and the lower level of Enterprises, the intervention to develop linkages with Financial

Institutes was designed. The strategy has been to either link the individualartisans/enterprises with Banks or mFIs or link the groups formed under the project with

Banks. So far, 73 Artisans/Enterprises have been linked with Banks through a Artisan

Credit Card Scheme. This is a government scheme where the artisans get credit on

subsidized rate of interest.

It was recognized that the gem processing and lac sectors have large female workforces

and in both cases, these are women who are largely home-bound or secluded. These

women working from their homes face particular challenges in financing the equipment

they need to be able to maximize their employment and so income, from home-based job

work. An SHG approach will be used by existing MFI partners to help home-bound women

to access bank loans to purchase tools to enable them to work for better wages and more

regularly from home. A simple stone bead drilling machine, for example, is Rs.3000, whilethe charcoal stove used in lac production is less than Rs.1000. Moreover, these artisan

women would also be linked to government subsidized credit products which would

provide them additional help to graduate to the next level of the value chain.

Moreover, the small producers in all three subsectors are limited in the scale they operate

by their capacity (i.e. capital turnover). Chronic shortages of working capital sustain

dependence on powerful buyers because they cannot raise the capital to set up alone.


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These kinds of problems would be addressed through the provision of individual loans for

small producers from commercial banks. The credit negative areas (predominantly muslim

areas) are also being explored and the potential of using their social strengths as groups

etc. to introduce finance through JLGs etc. The strategy is to link the Groups to banks in

such areas, as it increases the credibility by capitalizing on the existing social relations. Out

of 160+ Groups formed under the project, 66 Groups have been financially included in the

formal finance system, by opening of their Bank Accounts.

5. Access to information through IT Database

To address the lack of access to information in the industry, the intervention to compile

and centralize the database was designed. So far, a database of around 18,000 Artisans

and Small Enterprises has been gathered and compiled. A data of around 750 Jewelers has

also been gathered and compiled, with an aim of compiling all the data at one place and

housing that data at JAJ for further use by the industry.

6. Fair Trade

The idea of Fair Trade as an intervention was envisaged, as a means to both increase theincomes of the artisans and improvement in working conditions. Fair trade has a niche

market of its own, which ensures high returns on the fair trade certified products, but the

process itself of fair trade registration is a minimum of 3 years. However, the process of

Fair Trade Registration has been initiated for one of the project Partners, JKSMS, which

was facilitated by ACCESS, by introducing the Fair Trade Forum India (FTFI)'s Consultant to

the Organization. JKSMS has already gone through second level of scrutiny as part of the

registration process. As part of disseminating information on Fair Trade, a workshop was

organized in July, 2010, during the Jaipur Association Show (JAS)' 09. Director, FTFI Mr. I.

Mallikarjuna was invited for addressing the community and for sensitizing them on fair

trade.

Looking into the growing demand of Fair Trade products in both national and international

markets which results in better returns to labor and at the same time ensures that

products are coming from fair and ethical supply chains, the Jewellery sector of Jaipur

would also explore the same. Through JJADe we would try and attempt to educate the

Jeweller community of Jaipur to adopt the Fair Trade practices and to clean their supply

chain with their incentives of getting entry to a premium market. Through the project, one

of the partner NGOs accreditation as a registered Fair Trade Body would also be

facilitated. It would also be promoted to form market linkages between the major Fair

Trade buyers with existing groups, design entrepreneurs as well as entrepreneurs where

the production base would align itself to the fair trade requirements based on the buyer

requirement where they are getting premium returns for doing the same.

7. Technology Up Gradation and linkages with Technology Service Providers

As with many other services in the Developing Countries like India, Technology in jewelry

Sector, is also not reachable to most of the artisans and small enterprises. The project,

with this intervention has tried to reach out to these Artisans and small enterprises by

linking them with Government subsidized training programs related to technology. In this

regard, the project has supported the ARCH Academy of Design, to leverage one

Integrated Design Technology Training program from DCH, with subsidized trainings for


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the artisans. The Industry also lack standardization of products since all the products are

hand crafted, specially in case of gems, stones and semi precious stones. This often leads

to low returns from the market on these products. To address this issue, Development of

various Training modules on different Stones were initiated with Jewelers Association.

8. Design Development

Lac has been a virgin material in terms of innovation on new designs and product

diversification. In jewelry, it has always been used for making traditional bangles, catering

mostly to the domestic market. In order to tap the niche market which looks for subtle

product range in terms of design and color, various product ranges has been developed

using the mix media with lac. Three different product ranges were developed in the

project, which were displayed in various Fairs and exhibitions, like FORHEX, Ode to Earth,

Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair, JAS'09, JAJ etc. A design training on Integrated Design

Technology was leveraged from DCH, where 30 artisans were given the training on new

designs. A further impact mapping exercise also showed that few of them disseminated

the learnings of the workshop back in their social networks (producer groups in this case)

and have been involved in new product development ever since the workshop concluded.Any impact on their hourly wages etc. would be seen only after passage of few month.

Apart from the on-field interventions, the project is also leading a learning theme on

Strategies for Improving Working Conditions and also aims to generate learning

products that would be of significant importance for the larger community engaged in

designing and implementing value chain based poverty alleviation interventions. The

JJADe project has identified critical learning agendas and learning products that would be

exchanged both laterally to the similar organizations within the country as well as

vertically to international audience. The entire learning process intends to enrich the

learning of the consortium as well as benefit from sharing and exchange of learning with a

wider stakeholders population.

PROPOSED PROJECT STRATEGIES FOT THE NEXT PHASE

As now the project is gearing towards the second phase, the strategies are shifting more

towards the Market Development Approach. Earlier the project was following a service

delivery approach which was a necessity, since the project is the first developmental

project working with this target community, and hence for the successful implementation

by other field partners, the project had to establish some success models on field before it

could enter into the role of a market facilitator and follow a Market Development

Approach.

After the completion of one year of on ground implementation of the project, the team

again did some fine tuning exercises and as per the changed market scenario and alsoconsidering the limitations of resources like time, has decided to fine tune its strategies.

And hence, Based on the Framework (Figure 1), following are the strategies that would be

employed for addressing the afore mentioned challenges:

Building an Educated and a Skilled Force

Building a common Information Source


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Improving means to access production up-gradation and design developmenttechnologies

Improving access to finance

Improving access to strategies for Marketing in mainstream and alternate markets

And an important step towards sustainability of the same is to build sectoral leadership,

which the project is aiming to do by providing a sound business model to its projectAdvisory Committee, which is based on PPCP model. (Public Private Community

Partnership). Apart from eminent jewelers from the industry the committee also includes

Director of Rajasthan Chambers of Commerce, representatives from Leading Banks and

mFIs and Design Institutes and other service providers, representatives from partners,

eminent community leaders are also a part of this committee.

Based on the strategies, the following are the interventions being implemented for the

execution under JJADe:

1. Insurance and I- Card2. Schooling for Working Children3. Building a common database through an IT Platform4. Technology Up-gradation and Linkages with Technology Service Providers5. Linkages with institutions providing financial products6. Design & Product Development7. Fair Trade and Improving Access to Markets

In the interventions mentioned the first is a response to the clustered concentration of

poor workers linked to the supply chain, rather than to a problem which emerges directly

from it. It improves the social protection of workers through the provision of identity and

insurance. The second is a form of education, responding to working children in the trade,

whereas in the third, the aim is to build a common database of the various mainstream

Value Chain Players as well as of support and primary service providers. The fourth

intervention is about linking the artisan base with technology and design service providers

and hence to build their technology based skills and for enhancing the design value, for

enhancing their productivity and the returns on the labor invested. Whereas, Fair Trade

would be employed as a market based solution for better working conditions and

increased incomes. Moreover, improving access to markets would give the target

communities direct access to the market places giving them the first hand information

about the market as well as giving them better returns on the same.

The project would now be concentrating more towards linking all the interventions with

the market player which has an incentive in implementing them. The project would be

addressing the problem areas that were restricting the entrance of this incentivized player

earlier.

Social protection through Identity Cards and Insurances


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So far, JJADe has been functioning more on the service delivery approach to test the

ground information and to establish the base for testing the service models. The focus has

now gradually been shifted with the market development approach. In this aspect, the

JJADe would now initiate dialouges with Indian Institute of Gems and Jewelry (IIGJ) and

Indian Institute of Crafts and Design (IICD) and Jewelers Association Jaipur(JAJ) to become

the authorized Skill Accreditation Agencies.

The JAJ which used to issues ID Cards only to the Associations Members, has now shown

interest in issuing the ID Cards to the brokers and the supply chain players in the industry.

IIGJ and IICD would be pursued for becoming the authorized Skill Accreditation Agency

since they are the right players with relevant expertise and right set of incentives. They

will be getting the commission from the government for doing the accreditation of the

skills.

For the Insurances, apart from the existing Government Insurance products, JJADe is now

trying to explore the existing small chit insurance products. To stimulate the market

players in the Insurance Sector, the talks have been initiated with many of the important

players like Tata AIG, Sundaram, Bajaj Alliance, Max Bupa, GIC etc. these companies are

now shown the artisan community as a market where they can introduce their customized

products for them. ACCESS is working as market researcher and facilitator between these

companies and the Partner NGOs who may become the service agents for these Insurance

companies.

Schooling for Working Children

Various aspects are being explored at this point of time to make this school sustainable

and link it with the right market, even though its just 4 months that the school has been

functioning. At present no fees is being charged from the students, as the students who

are coming to the school are coming at an opportunity cost of 200 rupees, which they

would have been receiving had they been going to the National Child Labor Project

(NCPL), run by Ministry of Labor. Once the schools foundation will be laid strongly, the fee

based model for the school will be explored. As for now, following are the initiatives which

are being taken to work towards the sustainability of the school:

1. There is an intensive work which is being done with the Artisans Community, in

terms of Design Development, Skill Upgradation, Market Exposure and Market Linkages.

Some of the artisans and Enterprises have shown interest in paying the market facilitation

fee to the Organizations. The project is now looking at making this as mandatory

facilitation fee for all kind of market facilitation

2. Another option which the project is looking at the Muslim community concept

of Jakaat where all the muslims give some percentage of their annual income as charity in

some form or the other. Since this school is running in the muslim community, the

community can be pursued to give the Jakaat to the school itself

3. Other options which the project will try to explore would be to involve the CSRs

funds, private players to invest in the school.


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4. The project can also look for Private schools to run this school, since they will be

getting students with a particular level of understanding who then can be admitted to

various standards according to their level of learning.

Building a common database through an IT Platform

It was aimed that the project would be gathering information on various value chainactors like artisan groups (their capacities as graded by the project), brokers, Jewelers,

Service Providers for technology, finance etc. as a common database and would be

housing the same at the JAJ, for ensuring that this data bank is benefitting the target

customers. But to ensure that this data would be used and updated, given the dynamism

of the market involved, this data bank would be backed with a business plan, where this

data bank would also be used a dissemination tool for various trade related information

and would function on a fee based model where the people using it would be charged for

it. This adds JAJs incentive in this work plan and would also be earning the costs incurred

for continuous up-dation of the information housed.

Technology Up-gradation and Linkages with Technology Service providers

As with many other services in the Developing Countries like India, Technology in jewelry

Sector, is also not reachable to most of the artisans and small enterprises. The project,

with this intervention has tried to reach out to these Artisans and small enterprises by

linking them with Government subsidized training programs related to technology. In this

regard, the project has supported the ARCH Academy of Design, to leverage one

Integrated Design Technology Training program from DCH, with subsidized trainings for

the artisans.

The project would help the technology service providing institutes to identify the required

technologies to make the workforce more market responsive and competitive and in turn

also increase the value of the production. It would also help the institutes to develop short

term courses and would be providing hand holding support for them to design business

models around the same to explore how these courses which are affordable for the client

would also result in large volume business for the providers. The client information, for

the time being, would also be provided by the NGO partners for accurate pricing and

training offering.

Linkages with institutions providing financial products

The project has tried three different models of service delivery for developing financial

linkages for the artisans and the Enterprises. Firstly, Individual Artisans or enterprises get

direct financial Service from the mFIs, secondly, the Groups get financially linked with the

Banks, and thirdly, the Artisans or enterprises get credit through Govt subsidized schemes

like Artisan Credit Cards.

The project is already geared up in the Market Development Approach, and as a long term

vision, sees, more Banks and mFIs visualizing profits in developing financial products for

this section of the society as well. Once the Banks and mFIs see profit in this venture, they

would initiate making Service Agents from the Community itself, involving community

youth, or NGOs as Correspondents or Value Chain Members. This would ensure an impact,

both at artisans and enterprise level. At the level of information from the field etc. the


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project is acting as a catalyst and is bridging the gap of information between the service

providers and the clients.

Under the project the following has already happened as a part of projects market

development strategy:

FULLERTON ( a private sector Singapore Based Firm) was provided with the needful fieldinformation and it is now operating in 4 operational areas of JJADe which earlier were

blacklisted by other players as credit negative areas. The field success of FULLERTON

has prompted other mF providing firms like SKS, FINO etc. to enter the same and similar

such areas.

Design & Product Development

As the value of Design Services is highly crucial for the costume jewellery market segment,

the focus of JJADe would be on the following:

As the value of Design SerFuelling the market for design service Getting more Design Institutes to offer such trainings as a viable business model NGOs provide design trainees to the Design Institute on a paid basis

For the same this intervention would be linking the designers and the design service

providing institutions with the artisan base for continuous supply of designs in the market.

Special fee based modules would be designed with the institutes and would be market

tested for identifying the affordable payment amounts and mechanism for artisans. This

kind of a demand for design services would be fuelled by NGO partners bringing in more

government funded trainings and by facilitating market linkages needing specialized

design inputs. This would ultimately lead to better realization of gains with increased

hourly incomes for the artisans ensuring the both marketability and the profitability for

the artisans.

Fair Trade and other Strategies for Market Linkages

JJADe would try and attempt to educate the Jeweller community of Jaipur to adopt the

Fair Trade practices and to clean their supply chain with their incentives of getting entry to

a premium market. Market Linkages would also be facilitated through the partner NGOs

accredited as a registered Fair Trade Body. . It would also be promoted to form market

linkages between the major Fair Trade buyers with existing groups, design entrepreneurs

as well as entrepreneurs where the production base would align it to the fair trade

requirements based on the buyer requirement where they are getting premium returns

for doing the same. JJADe would also function as a guarantor in some of these cases. The

project would need to take up this role as the process of registration and certification

takes more than a year and the fair trade buyers take guarantees from development

organizations and for a large order they may also send their own agents to check the

processes.


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III. LEARNING AGENDASANDLEARNING PROCESSES

We plan to learn in collaboration with our consortium partners; with the project itself

disseminating within the consortium the lessons each party learns. We anticipated and

have learnt with and from other partners in the SEEP learning network on urban value

chains. We have, throughout the last year, gained exposure and have tried to learn more

about the value chains and how development projects are designed around them. We

have also learnt a lot on Result Assessment and Impact Measurement Processes and have

also been oriented and introduced to the Market Development Approaches. There has

been a lot of action learning too that the team has always tried to register, map and

document from the field. The plan for the coming phase would be more accurately map

these learnings and to document and disseminate them over a larger audience base.

Moreover, the Costume Jewelry value chain is a large, complex and traditional value

chain. JJADe was the first intervention with a development mandate, anywhere, which has

attempted to intervene significantly and sustainably in a value chain of this size and

complexity. On the completion of the project, the whole process of this proposedintervention, and its results, will show how such an intervention can be designed and

implemented. In particular, we anticipate that it will go some way towards answering the

following questions, among others:

What are the critical differences between rural and urban value chains, from the point of

view of agencies which are trying to intervene in them in the interests of the more

disadvantaged links in the chain?

In particular, to what extent are the following general guidelines relevant in an urban

context?

Work with rather than against large private-sector businesses. They are not theenemy.

Do not automatically assume that groups and other means of aggregating small

producers have a role to play. They may, but not always.

How can the welfare of migrant workers be addressed both in the rural place of

origin and the urban place of work?

How can sustainable improvements be made to the welfare of workers in large long-

established complex urban value chains?

In particular, which of the following types of intervention can be effective, and how and

through whom can they be most successfully introduced?

Forming groups of workers who previously worked on an individual self-employed

basis

Training workers to enhance their skills

Introducing simple and replicable technical changes to enhance labor productivity


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Improving access to credit to increase their competitiveness at a comparativelylower rate of interests

How important is the interest of Private Sector Players towards a sustainable

development intervention

What are the difference between a service delivery approach and a market developmentapproach?

In Particular answering:

What is the basic point of difference between the two approaches?

What are the factors that decide which approach should be implemented in which

area?

In areas where any project is entering for the first time , what are the indicators

that a NGO can use for mapping its graduation from service delivery into market

development?

Which is a better model Market Development- Service Delivery?

Understanding:

The basic difference between the two approaches?

Which works better, when a already established private player enters or when an

NGO evolves into a profit making wing- which gives better results to the

community? What Factors determine this?

Is it possible to create and sustain a fair trade range of costume jewellery, or indeed of

any product manufactured in a large long-established complex urban value chain?

In particular, how should the following aspects of creating such a range is addressed?

Motivating the numerous manufacturers and intermediaries to manufacture the

item and to make the necessary improvements to working conditions by ensuring

adequate market pull from the relevant sources

Developing short and accessible marketing channels for the range

If such a range can be created and marketed, will the improved working

conditions which it requires also spread into the manufacturing units which are

not producing the fair trade range?

The overall learning process that ACCESS will pursue through the JJADe project is:

Desk Research

There is little published material on the development of urban value chains, since this is

an area in which there have as yet been few interventions, and even fewer positive or

negative results from which useful lessons can be learned. In the broader field of value

chains in general, we have used or propose to use whatever can be gleaned from the

various publications which are listed in the bibliography, and from the numerous website


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which touch on the subject, among many others. We would also be intensively exploring

issues surrounding working children, financial inclusion/linkages; market based approach

in the context of urban value chains etc. and would be opening several such issues for the

world of development practitioners.

Action Research

The whole process of analyzing and intervening in the value chain, and monitoring and

evaluating the results, has been a process of continuous learning. We have taken and

would keep on with the following steps in order to capture and share that learning, both

for the benefit of our intervention itself and the wider development community.

ACCESS staff and partner staff, every quarter, report their major single specific

learning from their work. These lessons are be circulated within the whole team

who are working on the project and are duly communicated to The SEEP Network.

ACCESS and partner staff is meeting every month to discuss and refine what they

have learned, to share the problems that have arisen and to develop solutions

based on the lessons and insights which have been gathered by the whole team.These discussions are structured and documented, and are followed up to ensure

that the conclusions are realistic and practical.

The progress of the Jaipur intervention will be reported to the annual Livelihoods

India conference, and we shall use this international ACCESS conference to raise

the profile of the Jaipur jewelry value chain and regularly to report on the changes

and improvements which we anticipate will be occurring.

The international annual meetings which SEEP proposed received participation

from the JJADe team which the team was able to well utilize as an opportunity to

share and refine the lessons we had learnt from the field.

The project also aims at building sector leadership through its Public Private

Community Partnership Model well implemented in the form of Project Advisory

Committee. The aim is to base it on a business model so that it can function

sustainably even after the exit of the project.

The interventions made for the School for working children has been received by

all as a highly learning experience, and hence it would documented right from the

process to the challenges faced and how sustainability would be reached in the

same.

Some of the learning products which are mentioned earlier will also be used in this

internal learning process, and consortium members will reinforce their learning by

collaborating in the production of this material.

Besides contributing to the above learning agendas, the JJADe project specifically focuses

on the learning agenda on Working Conditions i.e. how can sustainable market based


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models be put in place to ensure improved working condition of the artisans engaged in

the Costume jewelry value chain. The project more specifically intends to learn:

- What are the market-based models to help in the inclusion of poor artisans to theexisting service providers?

- How can ACCESS play a facilitators role to ensure that market based systems arepro-poor and help in improving working conditions?

- How can the Social Enterprise Model contribute to improved working conditions?- How can Fair Trade systems be made sustainable and include the poor artisans?

Starting this learning process ACCESS has taken up following steps:

Step 1: Develop a clear definition and understanding on Working Conditions and what are

various dimensions of the same

Step 2: Research the existing global as well as local market-based solutions to address the

challenges of working conditions

Step 3: Identify the potential solutions to address the working condition challenges andthe related market based service providers

Step 4: Pilot few feasible models

The next steps that ACCESS envisages to take to follow-up on the learning agenda are:

Step 5: Identify the limitations of the models that are being piloted

Step 6: Strengthen / adapt the feasible models based on global and other experiences and

learning

Step 7: Document and disseminate the learning from the pilots as well as other secondary

research


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IV. DISSEMINATION ANDNETWORKING PLANThe Intended External Audience.

We strongly believe that value chains can only be sustainable in the long run if the

products (or services) which they produce satisfy the demands of the market place, and

that private for-profit businesses, often very large multinational ones, are the most

effective partners in this process. They are the middlemen (and middlewomen) between

the producers and the eventual customers, but their marketing role is critical, and their

proportionate share in the total retail value of the product is irrelevant, so long as the up-

stream producers are reasonably remunerated.

We have therefore already involved a number of large local traders and merchants in our

initial enquiries, as well as fair and ethical trade organisations which work with them, and

many of them are keen to play a part in the project. We also have useful contacts with a

number of international buyers for markets in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere, and

we hope to involve them closely in the development and marketing of the proposed fair

trade range and ethical sourcing proposition. These businesses are therefore probably the

most important group to which we hope to disseminate the lessons we learn.

The fashion jewelry buying decision is an emotive one. There are no objective market

valuations for items of the kind produced by the value chains in which we are intervening,

and the feel of the product, its presentation and the context in which it is bought are all

important. This provides an ideal opportunity for fair trade and ethical sourcing, whereby

the fairness of production can enhance the product value. The marketing channels, the

traders, importers and retailers, must also be convinced of the marketability of this value,

and the dissemination and networking process will have to include them if the range can

be successful and if the overall working environment of the Jaipur fashion jewelry industry

is to be sustainably improved. Dissemination and networking will therefore have to be a

marketing process as well as a purely informational one.

In addition to the above commercial audience, we shall also involve and inform the more

familiar development audience, including donors, NGOs, consultants, development

finance institutions, relevant government departments, and others. The messages to this

audience will be very similar to those directed to the private sector, since businesses are

in many industries becoming the leading promoters of inclusive value chains. The

boundaries between the private sector, governments and third sector institutions are

becoming increasingly blurred; we hope modestly to facilitate this process.

Learning Products and Activities.

In addition to the internet learning platform mentioned above, and regular presentations

at the Livelihoods India and other marketing and development conferences, we plan toproduce a wide range of learning products as the project progresses. These will include:

Case studies (3already in formulation stage)on particular issues, some of which

will be used in management and in development studies courses in India and

elsewhere, as part of the curricula in which some of our collaborators are already

teaching.


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Articles in scholarly, practitioner and trade journals, (2 already published)including but not only marketing and development publications.

Video productions (apart from 3 already circulated), to illustrate case studies and

for stand-alone use. Artisan jewellery manufacture is by its nature photogenic,

including the negative aspects which we wish to address such as working children

and cramped and hazardous working conditions. We hope that these visual

images will publicise the less attractive aspects of artisan jewelry manufacture,

and thus assist in the promotion of the fair trade range and ethical sourcing

approach we propose to introduce.

Participation in trade fairs, such as the biannual Indian Gifts Fair and the annual

Ode to Earth fair which was organised by ACCESS in November 2008 in

conjunction with the Livelihoods India conference. This will, when possible, be

done in collaboration and with the support of the Jaipur jewelry industry

associations and traders and importers.

It is not possible at this stage to quantify the numbers of such events or other learning

products which will be produced, or the numbers of people whom they will reach. We

hope, however, to feed into the existing dissemination activities of the SEEP network, and

the existing promotional and information activities of the Jaipur jewellery industry, in such

a way as to enhance learning for all parties. This process should continue after the end of

the project, in the same way as the sales of new or existing products will continue and

expand, and the improved working conditions in the industry will spread and be sustained

within the industry.

Networking

The above learning products and their dissemination will in themselves contribute to the

formation and strengthening of informal networks around value chain development,including private forprofit participation. More specifically, Access will launch a network

from its project partners, the Access Initiative for Marketing Support (AIMS) network.

AIMS will be a membership network of enterprise development organizations engaged in

mutual learning.

ACCESS has already added Livelihoods India to the well-established Microfinance India

series of conferences, accompanied by well researched reports on the state of the

sector. This initiative was launched in November 2008 and was an immediate success,

attracting 600 people, and almost as many participants as the preceding two days which

were devoted to the well-established microfinance industry. The speakers included senior

representatives from ITC, the Fortune Group and other leading businesses which are

already heavily involved in value chain development, and the participants alreadyconstitute an informal livelihoods and value chain development network. Various topics

and issues around value chain development are deliberated during specialized sessions at

the Livelihoods India Conference. This year ACCESS is planning to collaborate with other

global partners like SEEP, AKF etc, to develop focused sessions on value chain approaches

during the Livelihoods India Conference.


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Livelihoods and value chain development have in some sense evolved out of microfinance,

although finance, micro or otherwise, is only one of the many inputs which maybe

required in order to lift the quality of jobs in a value chain, and is often not the most

important one.

Organizations such as Basix Finance, the Ford Foundation and many others, which have

played a major role in the development of microfinance, are now moving into value chaindevelopment as they see that microfinance is becoming well-established but that financial

services alone are generally not enough to lift a household out of poverty. There is as yet,

however, no equivalent of CGAP, the devfinance discussion site, or the many other

forum or sources of information which are available to microfinance practitioners. This is

partly because of the more diverse and complex nature of livelihoods and value chain

development, but partly because of the relative youth of the field. ACCESS therefore

proposes to link this Jaipur jewellery initiative to the Livelihoods India conference and the

publication of the annual state of livelihoods report, in order to build a network of

practitioners through which experiences and lessons can be shared. This will be done

initially through the launching of a website devoted to the subject, as described above.

The proposed ACCESS initiative, and the related value chain projects to be sponsored by

SEEP can be the basis for a totally new journal, electronic and/ or paper based, and aimed

at practical academics and thinking practitioners. Such a publication would help to create

a community of interest around the subject. Practical Action Publications, the publishers

of Enterprise Development and Microfinance, have offered to produce and market a

quarterly magazine on a pilot basis, similar to their present Waterlines and Boiling Point

publications.

The publication is envisaged to contain an editorial, a section of news, some more

substantial articles and field and project reports, and it is also envisaged that it could

attract some limited paid advertising. Practical Action Publishing would edit, produce,

market and manage the print subscriptions, and would supply no charge electronic copiesto registered subscribers for a trial period of three years. It is hoped that the managers of

the SEEP-sponsored projects, and others, would use this as a forum for the exchange of

ideas, and also as a means for wider dissemination, linked to the proposed website. A

journal of this kind might reach around 1000 readers, of whom some 50% might be

practitioners.

Market Development Forum:

Various regional Market Development Forums are being developed to facilitate cross

learnings as well as sharing of experiences. ACCESS intends to establish similar forum in

India having membership of other value chain development organizations. This forum will

help in dissemination of learning from the JJADe project as well as help in furtherstrengthening of the JJADe strategies through existing experiences of other forum

members.

Training Course of Value Chain Development

ACCESS has also initiated the process of developing and implementing a training course on

Value Chain Development in India (in the initial phases and based on the response may

extend it to include participants from other countries in the region). The initial phase of


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this training programme is being developed in collaboration with COADY Institute and will

be organized in India to create and develop professional capacities in India on the

concepts, practices and models of value chain approaches.

Course Curriculum at IICD (Indian Institute of Crafts and Designs)

Besides collaborating with COADY to develop a training program on value chaindevelopment; ACCESS has also collaborated with local organizations like Indian Institute of

Crafts and Designs (IICD) to develop a course curriculum around value chain development

approaches. This course curriculum will help create designers having a good

understanding and skills around value chain development.

SEEP Membership

ACCESS is also applying to be member of the SEEP Network under Enterprise

Development. This membership will not only help ACCESS further learn on various new

approaches, learning and models on enterprise development; but also provide an

opportunity to share the learning from JJADe project.


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V. CAPACITY ASSESSMENTANDCAPACITY BUILDING PLAN

ACCESS is implement this project through a consortium having rich and diverse expertise

that includes ACCESS as a lead partner having experience of executing innovative models

on livelihoods and value chains, local NGOs having presence and experience and rapport

with the target communities, Jaipur Jewellery Association (JJA) which as it is, an unique

institution of local manufacturers and producers engaged in jewellery and technical

resource persons with vivid and in-depth understanding on value chains.

During the Project Formulation it was identified that following would be the Skill

sets/capacity that would be required to implement the programme and to achieve the

desired output from the project:

i. Understanding and experience on the Value Chain Development Approachesand Market Development Approaches

ii. Ability of reading the market and aligning the interventions as per thechanging demands of the project.

iii. Sensitivity and understanding of important roles markets and industry leaderplay in sustainability of any livelihoods program (importantly value chain

programs)

iv. Good rapport and presence among the target groupsv. Ability and experience of working in livelihoods issuesvi. Ability and experience of working with urban poorvii. Experiences of working in / with networksviii. Experiences of working with varied stakeholders (including private sector,

government and individual experts)

A. ACCESS Development ServicesACCESS is a legacy institution set up by CARE and DFID to consolidate and build on the

successful experiences gained while implementing a large DFID microfinance program by

CARE. While spinning off the outfit as a not for

Documents

Proposed Program Design Framework- Phase II