Good practice

Programa InfoLady (Kallyani) — Infoemprendedoras rurales de mujer a mujer, Bangladesh

Bangladesh · Dhaka · See the Bangladesh profile

El modelo InfoLady (Kallyani) de D.Net forma a mujeres rurales de Bangladesh como infoemprendedoras que se desplazan en bicicleta, ofreciendo puerta a puerta información de salud, agricultura y servicios públicos. En 2018, 464 Kallyanis operaban en 9 distritos.

464 people

Kallyanis activas (2018)

9 districts

Distritos cubiertos (2018)

500,000+ transactions

Transacciones de servicios pagados completadas (2010-2015)

100-150 USD/month

Ingreso mensual medio por Kallyani (2010-2015)

8 out of 10

Índice de satisfacción de los clientes (2015)

9 out of 10

Índice de confianza de los clientes (2015)

Programa InfoLady (Kallyani) — Infoemprendedoras rurales de mujer a mujer, Bangladesh

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: D.Net (Development Research Network)
Period: 2010–present (concept piloted from 2004)
Keywords: digital literacy, rural entrepreneurship, ICT4D, health & agricultural information access

Context

D.Net (Development Research Network), una empresa social de Bangladés, puso a prueba el concepto InfoLady a partir de 2004 y lo formalizó como el modelo de negocio "Kallyani" en 2010, un enfoque de infoemprendimiento de mujeres para mujeres orientado al acceso a las TIC de "última milla" en las zonas rurales de Bangladés.

Objectives

Permitir que mujeres rurales, financiadas mediante microcréditos, ofrezcan puerta a puerta información basada en TIC sobre salud, agricultura, servicios gubernamentales y comunicación a los hogares, incluidos temas culturalmente sensibles como la anticoncepción.

Activities

Cada Kallyani está equipada con tableta/smartphone, ordenador portátil, cámara y bicicleta (financiados mediante un microcrédito bancario de aproximadamente 70.000-80.000 BDT), que cubre un área de aproximadamente 3-4 km² / 400 hogares y cobra pequeñas tarifas por servicio (0,13-1,30 USD).

Results

En 2018, 464 Kallyanis estaban activas en 9 distritos. Una cohorte anterior de 102 Kallyanis completó más de 500.000 transacciones de servicios pagados (2010-2015), con proveedoras que declaraban ingresos mensuales medios de 100-150 USD. Una evaluación cualitativa intermedia de 2015 registró una satisfacción de las clientas de 8/10 y una confianza en la Kallyani de 9/10; la escala alcanzada quedó muy por debajo de la ambición declarada por D.Net de 10.000 Kallyanis a nivel nacional para 2021.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-07-11
D.Net (Development Research Network) — accessed 2026-07-11
Dnet – InfoLady: Empowering Communities through Women Infopreneurship — accessed 2026-07-11
1WorldConnected (George Washington University) – InfoLady Case Study — accessed 2026-07-11

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 70/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 43% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Effectiveness1/1

464 active Kallyanis across 9 districts and 500,000+ completed transactions (2010-2015) show the model functioning at meaningful, if modest, scale.

Transferability / replicability1/3

Replicated across 9 districts of Bangladesh with a documented business model, but scale fell short of the national 10,000-Kallyani target and no cross-border replication is documented.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Hundreds of thousands of paid service transactions demonstrate real household-level uptake of health, agricultural and government-service information.

Efficiency1/1

Low per-service pricing ($0.13-$1.30) combined with reported provider earnings of $100-150/month evidences a cost-effective, self-financing service-delivery model.

Evaluated outcomes0/1

Only a 2015 interim qualitative evaluation was identified; no rigorous quantitative impact study was found.

Sustainability1/1

Self-financing entrepreneurship model has operated continuously since 2010 and was still active as of the 2018 case study.

Achievement / evidence1/1

Recognised with the Manthan South Asia Award (2011), a Global Development Award (2012) and The Bobs Award (2013).

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

Explicitly designed as a women-for-women infopreneurship model serving women's information needs, including on sensitive health topics.

Curator validation0/1

Pending independent curator review.

Cite this

Evidoria. Programa InfoLady (Kallyani) — Infoemprendedoras rurales de mujer a mujer, Bangladesh. Persistent ID: f874f359-ff1a-4c62-b37a-943336415854.

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