Jita Rural Sales Programme, Bangladesh
JITA operates a last-mile rural distribution network that supplies quality essential consumer goods that promote better health, hygiene, and nutrition and, in the process, creates supplemental income through entrepreneurship.
JITA activates micro-entrepreneurs to run stockist points (JITA Hubs), from where goods reach the hands of rural consumers through a wide network of micro-merchants and women door-to-door sales agents called Aparajitas (Bengali for “women who do not accept defeat”). Using a dedicated field team, JITA facilitates engagement between market actors and ensures that Hubs, micro-merchants, and Aparajitas have access to a reliable supply chain. To source products for its channel, JITA aligns with a national and international pool of reputed manufacturing partners. JITA creates value to these partners by offering a cost-effective means of supplying to markets that otherwise require high logistics costs to serve.
Through JITA, men and women can access training and market linkage facilities to generate sustainable income as entrepreneurs. On the other hand, rural consumers gain access to better quality goods at fair prices and do not have to rely on consuming adulterated substitutes. By taking the burden away from manufacturers and ensuring underserved consumers get quality goods at the right price, JITA is promoting a more equitable and resilient market ecosystem across rural Bangladesh. Through JITA, rural entrepreneurs from vulnerable backgrounds are able to significantly increase their income.