National Desk :
Digital devices and e-commerce platforms have created linkages between rural women entrepreneurs and marketplace that helps the country’s marginal womenfolk being self-reliant by offering them fair prices and various selling options.
The pandemic situation in a way helped the women selling their products in easier ways as currently the numbers of consumers of e-commerce sites have been increasing day by day due to lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s flagship digital Bangladesh campaign opened the door of opportunity in front of the rural women entrepreneurs as now they can sell their products in fair price easily without exposing to the virus by staying at home.
“Those days are over. Now I don’t need to send the vegetable that I do produce to the local market. I started selling those to different e-commerce sites through my smartphone,” said Naich Akhtar, a rural women entrepreneur from Bogura.
After graduating from a local college, Akhtar started homestead farming adjacent to her home along with small scale poultry and making handicrafts with other women of her family.
“My husband was used to carry our products to wholesalers of the local market for sale. But most of the time, we didn’t get fair prices for our lack of knowledge regarding the real market prices,” she said.
But, she continued with a victorious smile, “When I got a smartphone, I started contacting to different e-commerce sites for selling my products in much better prices compare to our local market.”
Currently, the online marketing platforms like Paramdia, Market Bangla, Abad, Daraj Bangladesh and Food for Nation are directly buying agricultural products from Akhter.
“Now, What I need to do to sell my products … just to get in touch with wholesalers online through my smartphone,” Akhter said thanking the digital Bangladesh endeavor of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The trend and confidence of the consumers to buy products from online has been increased a lot amid the pandemic and as consequence the numbers of internet and smartphone users have been increased with parity.
Experts said Internet has definitely become a powerful tool for women’s empowerment in developing countries like Bangladesh as it helps them overcome some intrinsic cultural barriers of limited mobility on their own as well as safety and security issues.
However, Akhter pointed out some constrains in flourishing women entrepreneurs at the rural level especially lack of technology in producing their products.
