Fostering last mile distribution to improve nutrition: The success stories of rural women micro-entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Insights by Sumaiya Bushra

While this 21st century marks it’s unique footprint of speaking about gender equality all over the globe, the International labour organisation reports that the global labour force participation rate for women is close to 49% whereas it is 75% for men, marking a difference of 26 percentage points, with some regions facing a gap of more than 50 percentage points. Bangladesh also faces these problems in both rural and urban areas although there has been remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of women and girls.

With a view for creating jobs and income opportunities for up to 5,000 female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, contributing to women’s economic empowerment and improving the status of nutrition intake in rural Bangladesh, a four year long project named ‘Pushti Ambassador Partnership’ was initiated in 2019 by four partners(two commercial and two non-commercial):? Bopinc, Arla, Dnet and iSocial and funded by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). The development objective of the partners is to also reach at least 1.25 M consumers per month with nutritious products.?

The last-mile micro-entrepreneur network that has been established in this project is called “Pushti Ambassadors’ network”. Pushti Ambassadors (PA) are a group of rural micro-entrepreneurs of Bangladesh who promote nutrition education and sell nutritious products around their neighbourhood. The word ‘Pushti’ means ‘Nutrition’ in Bangla; so these women are popularly known as ‘Nutrition Ambassadors’ in their society. With an aim to get to know about the day to day? opportunities, challenges and the success of a Pushti Ambassador , we interviewed four Pushti Ambassadors from four different regions; Bebi Begum (35) from Jashore, Marjina (35) from Sherpur, Khukumoni Akhter(26) from Sirajganj & Sharmin Akhter(22) from Rangpur.

Different backgrounds, same vision

Not all women come into this network with the same amount of experience, motivation or dedication required for becoming a microentrepreneur. But entrepreneurship is a journey of finding their true self, and the love & passion for work.

Khukumoni Akhter was a fulltime housewife and a part time student before she became a Pushti Ambassador. She looked after her family members, giving very little time to her studies or herself. Khukumoni felt an emptiness inside her which pushed her for a soul searching activity.? She was invited to a three-days training session arranged by iSocial in her area. Once she showed up for the training session, she decided to explore this potential sector of becoming a micro entrepreneur and that’s how her journey started.

Sharmin Akhter has a similar story. She is a full-time student who lives with her parents and can invest her time fully on her studies. Yet she felt the urge to become financially independent at a very young age. Hesitant about what job she could get, she heard about this micro entrepreneurship training in her area provided by iSocial. Sharmin felt motivated to become independent and do good for the society, no matter how small that contribution can be. This led her to joining the Pushti Ambassadors’ network 1.5 years ago.

Bebi Begum, an empowered Pushti Ambassador from Jashore quotes, “Before becoming a microentrepreneur, I have always been involved in small or medium money generating tasks. I have been working since 1999 and I started with small businesses like sewing clothes. Then in 2014 I started working at a local association where I managed the savings of around 27-28 members. I was quickly liked by the people as a Manager with my inborn leadership skills. Meanwhile, in 2016, I made a firm decision to start my own business since I could understand the undiscovered potentials in me being a born entrepreneur. Then I learnt about the Pushti Ambassadors program and joined this network.”

Pushti Ambassadors going door to door to create demand and sell nutritious products from their basket.

Marjina Begum, a 35-year-old mother from Sherpur, seems to have a long history of work experience and very strong willpower embedded from the very beginning of her journey as a Pushti Ambassador. When her husband left her and married another woman, she was lost and didn’t have any clue how she would earn her living to support her family. In such a backdrop, becoming a micro entrepreneur was her conscious decision. She proudly says, “When I had no other option to earn, this Pushti Ambassador’s activity provided me a new hope.”

Exploring the unexplored territories

Sharmin Akhter, the youngest Pushti Ambassador interviewed and the latest to join the network (only 1.5 years ago) shared her struggles during the initial days as a micro-entrepreneur. She used to face a lot of questions from the neighbourhood about her roaming around in the area with the intention of sales.? Her neighbours thought that she was bringing cheap or unauthentic products and selling them at higher prices. They also questioned why a woman had to choose to become an entrepreneur instead of taking a full or part-time job. Sharmin chose to keep an open mind and replied to each of her customers with politeness. She did not lose patience and waited till she could establish a strong image of herself as a true, authentic and caring Pushti Ambassador. Now, the whole neighbourhood respects her for bringing positive changes to their lives.

Marjina too faced a similar situation in her early days as a Pushti Ambassador. Initially it was not that easy to explain to rural people about the benefits of nutrition and nutritious foods. But now people of her local community are well aware about nourishing food and try to buy those from her. She is satisfied enough now as she is earning a handsome amount by selling nutritious food products and sharing knowledge regarding nutrition.

On the contrary, Khukumoni and Bebi Begum were well known in the society from the very beginning due to their family backgrounds and past activities, so their struggles were less prominent than Sharmin and Marjina. Khukumoni says, “People who live in our locality are quite educated and do not look down upon women working. I am lucky to be a part of such a society.”

Nutrition is a core feature of a Pushti Ambassador’s profile and their major task is promoting and selling nutritious items among the rural communities of Bangladesh. These micro-entrepreneur women are taught to talk about different nutritional benefits from different sources of food, thus bringing in milk as a source of a lot of nutrients. Describing their experience on the sales pitch, all four Pushti Ambassadors exclaimed that people now-a-days are very health conscious and want to acquire knowledge on nutrition/health benefits. So, even a simple talk about nutrition, benefits of milk and thus selling nutritional products has been a great addition to the Pushti Ambassadors’ portfolio.

Marjina said, ‘The pregnant women in my area used to suffer a lot due to lack of vitamins and minerals. But with my continuous work, they are well aware now and seek my advice about food intake during pregnancy. I also provide them health support by checking their weight and blood-pressure regularly. This makes me very proud to be responsible for the healthy growth/living of so many pregnant women and children around me’. ?

Pushti Ambassadors on a courtyard sessions in their areas/neighborhood to discuss the benefits of nutrition in every human's wellbeing.

Success for a Pushti Ambassador

‘Success’ can hold a very broad meaning and is variable depending on the context & scenarios. In general, all of the PAs agreed that for them success is, ‘Getting recognition from society and? becoming financially independent.’

Khukumoni Akhter defines her success as the strong bond and reliable relationship she has grown with her family members (especially her husband). When asked about her biggest achievement, she says, ‘My biggest achievement is that my kids appreciate my work and respect me for what I do. I have a son and a daughter. I share my work with them, teach them basic stock keeping maths, and show my dedication towards my business. I think I am bringing up strong children who will also have a strong backbone like me’.?

Sharmin Akhter clearly defines her achievements in three points, stating? that? (1) her communication skills have improved significantly,(2) her financial condition has improved and (3) her respect in the society has increased. Her biggest success is that she does not take money from her family for studies anymore and pays her fees with her own hard earned money.

Marjina loves to work and doesn’t want to pass a single day without her role as Pushti ambassador. She dreamt of raising her son as a good human but was always worried about how she would be able to pay her son’s tuition fee for undergraduate enrollment. But now Marjina’s dream has come true, her son is now studying in a reputed university.

Bebi Begum has been recognized in multiple award ceremonies in and out of her city. She was also featured in local news and has been awarded with prize money by an international organization for her contribution to the society. During her tenure as a Pushti Ambassador, Bebi Begum has invested in her house renovation and opened up her own shop in front of her house. A lot of the local girls visit her for suggestions on how to progress in life; and that’s what success is all about in Bebi Begum’s eyes.

Pushti Ambassador placing posters to spread the message of 'importance of nutrition' in everyone's lives.

Breaking Barriers?

Every Pushti Ambassador is unique and all of them have achieved their own successes. All of these women broke the barrier to come forward and gain respect and recognition in the society and became financially independent. They continuously encourage all girls and women around them to try their best to fulfill their dreams. Bebi Begum opines, I want to continue spreading the good messages of nutrition, health care and hygiene among my society. I have already achieved a lot and I look forward to making more women able in their lives. Sharmin Akhter’s advice to all young women, 'Be self dependent, grow your own backbone at an early stage of your life'. Khukuomoni Akhter has already motivated a number? of women to join the same network and is still working on spreading the good message of women empowerment.

Women sales agents are known to be more trusted and convincing for consumers in low-income markets, especially when related to beneficial products that improve a family's quality of life. The experience of Bebi , Khukumoni and Sharmin underscores the fact that economic productivity and growth in low-income markets can be greatly boosted by unleashing women’s potential as entrepreneurs in value chains and consumers of beneficial products and services.

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