Terms of Reference (ToR) for Skills Gap Assessment for Cooperatives in the Crafts and Handmade Item Sub-Sector

1. Background

Gahaya Links Ltd. is a Rwandan handicraft company dedicated to women’s economic empowerment through enterprise design. Our bespoke home decor, jewelry, and textile collections reflect the beauty and resilience in each of our weavers. Gahaya Links has pioneered women-led economic development in Rwanda over the last twenty years. What began as an opportunity for basic income generation and skills training for women has grown to produce positive multiplier effects in the lives of their children, their families, and their communities. Our weavers have achieved access to education for their children, clean water and nutritious foods for their families and secure housing for their livelihoods, helping to enrich and strengthen communities across Rwanda.

Gahaya Links, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and key industry stakeholders, is implementing a program aimed at enhancing livelihoods and economic opportunities for financially disadvantaged women engaged in crafts and handmade value chains. A critical early-stage activity is a comprehensive skills gap assessment of cooperatives operating in this sub-sector. The assessment will provide evidence-based insights to guide capacity development interventions, ensuring training programs are demand-driven, inclusive, and aligned with both market opportunities and the aspirations of young women artisans.

2. Purpose of the Assessment

The primary purpose of the assessment is to identify sector-specific skills deficiencies among cooperative members engaged in crafts and handmade production, with a focus on financially disadvantaged women and young women. The assessment will inform the design and delivery of targeted training, mentorship, and business support services that enhance productivity, competitiveness, and income generation within the sub-sector.

3. Objectives

The specific objectives of the assessment are to:

1. Map 90 women-led cooperatives engaged in crafts and handmade production and profile their members.
2. Identify current technical, business, and soft skills within the cooperatives.
3. Determine gaps in product design, quality control, production efficiency, marketing, and financial literacy.
4. Assess institutional and organizational capacity gaps within the cooperatives.
5. Analyze market trends and buyer requirements to align training needs with demand.
6. Provide recommendations for tailored training and capacity-building interventions, with clear disaggregation (young women, older women, men, PWDs, etc.).

4. Scope of Work

The Consultant will:

1. Conduct a desk review of existing reports, training materials, and cooperative profiles.
2. Develop data collection tools (surveys, focus group guides, key informant interview checklists).
3. Engage stakeholders, including cooperative leaders, artisans, buyers, government agencies, and financial institutions.
4. Collect primary data from a representative sample of cooperatives across targeted regions.
5. Assess skills across the value chain:

• Production: artisan techniques, quality standards, raw material use.
• Design & Innovation: creativity, adaptation to market preferences.
• Business & Entrepreneurship: pricing, record keeping, financial management.
• Market Access & Marketing: branding, packaging, digital literacy, online selling.
• Cooperative Management: governance, leadership, resource mobilization.

 6. Identify structural challenges limiting participation of financially disadvantaged young women.

7. Produce a report with actionable recommendations for program design and training delivery.

5. Methodology

The assessment will adopt a participatory, gender-sensitive, and inclusive approach, combining:

• Literature Review: analysis of existing studies on crafts and handmade sector.
• Surveys: structured questionnaires to cooperative members.
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): with women and youth artisans to capture lived experiences.
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs): with buyers, market actors, and sector experts.
• Stakeholder Validation Session: to present preliminary findings and refine recommendations.

6. Deliverables

The Consultant will provide:

1. Inception Report – outlining methodology, tools, and workplan (within 2 weeks of contract).
2. Draft Assessment Report – presenting preliminary findings and analysis.
3. Stakeholder Validation Workshop Report – with feedback incorporated.
4. Final Assessment Report – including:

• Profiles of cooperatives and members
• Skills inventory and gap analysis
• Training and capacity-building recommendations
• Disaggregated data (gender, age, disability, economic status)
• Annexes with tools and raw data summaries

7. Duration & Timeline

The assessment will be conducted over a period of 30 working days, with key milestones as follows:

• Week 1: Inception phase (planning, tool design, stakeholder consultations)
• Week 2–4: Field data collection and analysis
• Week 5: Draft report and validation workshop
• Week 6: Final report submission and dissemination

8. Roles & Responsibilities

Gahaya Links will:

• Provide overall leadership and coordination.
• Facilitate access to cooperatives and stakeholders.
• Support data collection logistics.

Consultant Team will:

• Design methodology and tools.
• Conduct fieldwork and analysis.
• Produce reports and presentations.

Stakeholders (Government, Private Sector, NGOs) will:

• Provide sector insights and validation with support from Gahaya Links.
• Support dissemination and uptake of findings.

9. Required Expertise, Qualifications, and Education

The Consultant should demonstrate the following:

Professional Expertise

• Proven experience in conducting skills gap assessments, market studies, or baseline surveys, preferably in the crafts, handmade, creative industries, or cooperative development sectors. Experience conducting similar assignment is an added advantage.
• Strong background in gender-responsive and youth-focused programming, particularly in livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and cooperative capacity-building.
• Demonstrated ability to apply participatory research methods and facilitate inclusive consultations with disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
• Knowledge of artisanal value chains, microenterprise development, and cooperative governance experience in Rwanda or East Africa is an added advantage.
• Solid experience in producing high-quality analytical reports and actionable recommendations.

Qualifications & Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s level or higher) in a relevant field such as:

• Applied Statistics
• Development Studies
• Economics
• Business Administration / Entrepreneurship
• Gender and Livelihoods Studies
• Sociology or Anthropology (with applied experience in livelihoods/skills development)

• Specialized training in Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), market systems development, or cooperative development is desirable.
• Fluency in English is required; working knowledge of Kinyarwanda is a must and French is an advantage.

Team Composition 

• Lead Consultant/Data Analyst: Responsible for overall design, coordination, and final reporting. Must be skilled in both qualitative and quantitative methods, including gender-disaggregated analysis.
• Field Researchers/Enumerators: With demonstrated experience in participatory data collection in rural and cooperative settings.

10. Reporting & Supervision

The Consultant will report to the Program Manager and the CEO at Gahaya Links and work in collaborate with the Rwanda Creative Program consortium members and key stakeholders on aspects related to how the skills gap assessment will inform and benefit them during the implementation of the program.

The Consultant will work closely for day-to-day management and implementation of this assignment with the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Gahaya Links who will ensure that all aspects of logistics and coordination are addressed.

11. Budget & Logistics

The budget will cover consultancy fees, travel and accommodation, data collection, workshops, and reporting. Gahaya Links will manage financial oversight in line with program guidelines. Interested bidders should submit their technical and financial proposals separately (If these are combined in one document, your bid will be disqualified – they can be submitted in one email but different files attachments) to procurement@gahayalinks.rw and both documents should not exceed 5 MB in size and 10 pages maximum.

12. Submission

The deadline for submission of technical and financial proposal is October 14th, 2025 at 5 p.m.Kigali time.