FPS system is developed & operated jointly by Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and Directorate General of Food (DGF) office. It helps DGF and other stakeholders to manage paddy/rice procurement activities throughout the entire procurement process. FPS system was established to elevate the living standard of farmers by ensuring hassle free foodgrain selling directly to Government in a fair price. FPS assists DGF officials for a transparent and faster approach in managing procurement activities. For better usability and accessibility, an android app (for farmers) was developed to work integrated with the FPS system.
FPS System and Farmer’s App was first used in 16 upazillas from Nov 2019. In current Aman 2020 season, it’s being used in 75+ upazillas of the country. Farmers register (one time) in the system and express interest for paddy submission for current season. They get notified about application status through SMS in native (Bangla) language. Computer based lottery is utilized to select farmers. Date/Time and nearby location to submit paddy is also notified through SMS. Farmers can take help from 333 call center or UDC(Union Digital center) entrepreneurs.
Results achieved:
FPS has achieved few mentionable milestones in 3 seasons - 2,50,000+ verified database of famers, paddy procured equivalent of 100,00,00,000+ BDT, 3,30,000+ Farmers’ EoI processed, 40,000+ Tonne paddy procured, 1,100+ Verified Mills added, 4,000+ Tonne Rice procured, 50,000+ times app downloaded.
Impact:
FPS is making the paddy/rice procurement easier by letting Farmers/Millers apply from home using fingertip. Farmers/Millers can anytime check application status through Bangla SMS, Mobile and Web. FPS is enabling DGF and their officers with real-time monitoring facility. This system is not only making procumbent system transparent for Farmers/Millers but also helping DGF and other stakeholders to carry out their task faster and efficiently. FPS system is the largest verified Farmer database in Bangladesh.

http://fps.dgfood.gov.bd

• Bangladesh

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• Farmers, Rice Millers, Govt officers

If a concept or project has been proven to work in one community or region, it can often be exported to other communities or regions in the same country or abroad. While there are, of course, vast differences between countries and even between different parts of the same country, a good project will often be capable of being replicated elsewhere. We strongly believe that the FoodGrain Procurement Management System can be replicated in other departments/countries. As different country/organization have different policies but this system can be replicated with some modification. BCC and DGF can approach agricultural ministry to use FPS system for management of other crops procurement. BCC will be more than happy to adapt the FPS system to procure other crops.
We followed BNDA (Bangladesh National Digital Architecture) framework in developing and maintenance of the FPS system. BNDA framework promotes development and implementation of shared services. Apart from paddy procurement, rice procurement is already included in FPS system. DGF has planned to include wheat procurement also in upcoming seasons.
The FPS system has created precedence of computer based lottery execution for selecting limited no# of farmers from huge number of aspirants. It can be replicated for selecting beneficiaries where fair competition and transparency is prime concern.

This system can be used in other countries or regions. Though every country has their own policies but this system covers the standard procurement policies. So it may need some minor modification or customization for other countries. BCC is always ready to take the responsibility of tweaking the system for replicating other countries.

'Sustainability' can be considered as the ability of the system to continue its operational activities far into the future. Eventually, all projects have to finish, but the consequences of the project need to continue. Peoples want to see how the online system and its impact will outlive their direct involvement in the system. A project can be sustainable in three main categories: organizational, financial, and community sustainability.
Organizational: BCC and DGF are govt organization. DGF has given hosting responsibility to BCC for the FPS system in the national data center (maintained by BCC itself). BCC's regular staff and consultants, carries out the operation & maintenance of the system. It has already been discussed in cabinet ministry in presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister to extend the system for all upazillas of Bangladesh. In this respect, the project team/consultants are working closely with DGF. So there is no doubt for continuing operation of this online system.
Financial: DGF had to invest huge effort to manage procurement activities manually. FPS System eliminated some steps, simplified some sub-processes and enabled DGF to save govt expenditure for managing procurement activities. Again, such managed service can act as a revenue generating source. It's now the largest verified and online database of farmers. So some verification service can be introduced by taking service charge. Also, the computer based lottery system can be extended and offered (with moderate pricing) to be used in other govt services. It proves the system can be financially sustainable.
Community: We are seeing positive response from users (UAO, UCF, UNO, DCF, LSD/CSD user etc ) for FPS system and Farmer’s App. They are able to save effort & expenditure that was otherwise needed to manage procurement related tasks manually. District Commissioner and RCF users are also consider the FPS system useful. UDC (Union Digital center) entrepreneurs are happy to provide registration service to farmers with nominal service charge.

Our FPS System is helping farmers to apply EOI with ease from home even lying in bed. It's intuitive responsive interface enables users to view the important information about procurement. In fact, it's helping farmers to get govt service with less hassle by avoiding middlemen influence. It’s improving TCV (Time-Cost-Visit) index for farmers while getting govt service. As a whole, it’s creating some flavor of benefits in several aspects of farmers’/millers’ daily life. It has created precedence of utilizing ICT applications in agriculture sector of Bangladesh govt. There is provision for publishing farmer list open and public viewing. It creates confidence among farmers about transparency and fair competition. FPS provides Computer based lottery system, that is executed (to select farmers) in presence of local administration, govt officers, farmers and millers. Again, list of lottery winning farmers is published publicly just after lottery execution. Thus, It ensures transparency of the procurement process. FPS system operates by interaction and collaboration of various stakeholders of 4 different ministries, such as, Farmer, Miller, UAO, UCF, UNO, DCF, LSD/CSD, Bank, DC, RCF, DAE, BCC and DGF users. So it has created precedence of collaboration & partnership among users of different ministries in delivering citizen service.