Project

Transforming Agriculture with Technology and Training

Climate change is becoming an increasingly serious challenge for rural agriculture in Bangladesh, particularly for women-led microenterprises that often have limited access to timely information and modern technologies. The Empowering Women-Led Agricultural Microenterprises in Rural Bangladesh project addresses this challenge by integrating scientific research, climate information, practical training, and affordable sensor technologies to support climate-smart agricultural decision-making.

The project initially assessed three important agricultural sectors, poultry, aquaculture, and horticulture, before identifying the most suitable sector for intervention. It follows a three-phase approach: understanding the existing challenges, developing locally appropriate climate-smart solutions, and implementing these solutions through training and technology adoption to improve productivity, resilience, and long-term sustainability.

Phase 1: Scientific Assessment of Existing Challenges

The project began with a comprehensive assessment of women-led agricultural microenterprises across the poultry, horticulture, and aquaculture sectors. Through field surveys, stakeholder consultations, and key informant interviews, the study examined farming practices, climate-related risks, technological readiness, infrastructure limitations, and gender-specific barriers to adopting climate-smart technologies. Based on these findings, the poultry sector was selected as the primary intervention sector. Poultry demonstrated the highest level of women's participation and decision-making while also facing significant environmental challenges related to temperature, humidity, and ammonia (NH₃). Its short production cycle also provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of climate-smart interventions within a relatively short period.

Phase 2: Development of Guidelines and Training Materials

Using the findings from Phase 1, the project developed practical and locally appropriate climate-smart solutions for poultry farming. Low-cost environmental monitoring devices were selected to measure temperature, humidity, and ammonia, while advisory guidelines and training materials were designed to help farmers use weather information and environmental data in their daily management decisions. To ensure both scientific accuracy and practical relevance, the materials were developed in Bengali and refined through collaboration with poultry scientists, veterinarians, gender experts, partner NGOs, and farmers. Pilot field trials further improved the resources before large-scale implementation.

Phase 3: Training and Field Implementation

The final phase focused on translating research into practice. A total of 200 poultry microenterprises received advisory support and hands-on training on climate-smart poultry farming, environmental management, and weather-informed decision-making. Of these, 100 received handheld devices to monitor temperature, humidity, and ammonia, while 17 selected microenterprises were equipped with IoT-based systems for continuous monitoring of temperature, humidity, ammonia, and light intensity. Each farmer also received an illustrated advisory poster with practical guidance for managing environmental and weather-related risks. Training was delivered by university professors, veterinary doctors, gender experts, Upazila Livestock Officers, and Research Assistants. Ongoing field monitoring and impact assessment are evaluating technology adoption, productivity, and climate resilience while strengthening partner NGOs' capacity to promote climate-smart agriculture beyond the project.