‘Info Ladies’ are equipped with a bicycle and laptop computer, and travel to villages and households in Bangladesh providing information and communication services to rural women who lack access to basic information.

The three-day training session was part of the USAID funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD), and was designed to teach the ‘Info Ladies’ the agricultural technologies from three CGIAR centers, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), CIMMYT and WorldFish.

The women, who are located mainly in the Ranpur region in the North and some from the Jessore and Barisal region in the South, attended the training program called ‘Training for InfoLady on Agriculture.

Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship Development’, held in Mymensingh’s Spandan Training Centre.

The training programme taught the women about agricultural technology ranging from fertiliser management, maize varieties, and post-harvest technologies to basic aquaculture and pond management.

The programme ended with a daylong session on entrepreneurship development including book keeping, business plan and customer satisfaction.

This will allow the women to pass on their knowledge of agriculture technologies to a wider audience, especially rural women.

‘Info Ladies’ also provide information on a variety of topics including health, agriculture, education, legal advice, job search, market linkages, government services, and many more.

This model was set up in 2008 by a development organisation called D.Net together with other community organizations with the aim to reach women in Bangladesh, most of who face mobility constraints and cannot access opportunities to improve their lives.