MY COUNTRY MY VILLAGE

Description

Amar Desh Amar Gram is the first project of its kind that takes computers and web access to the lowest income group and empowers them with a possibility that was not ever previously available to them before. This project is the real possibility of a Digital Bangladesh, where digital technology reaches out to the furthest corners of our country bringing change to countless lives. This project takes the products from producers all around Bangladesh and then opens up national and international markets for them. Today fishermen from far off mongla are selling fish in the heart of Dhaka city, women sitting at home producing simple Nokshi Kathas  are earning by selling their kathas all over Bangladesh and even abroad, farmers growing fresh vegetables are supplying to city markets. The journey does not end there, the centers that control this supply chain is controlled by youths that are trained it to the infinite world of ecommerce, they themselves go on teach others, schools are handed out free softwares that the students benefit from and the wide world of digital technology becomes a reality for them. This unique and first of its kind ecommerce based poverty elevation project not only provided empowerment but also creates a new generation of entrepreneurs among the youth who can then strive for self sufficiency. Amar Desh Amar Gram is the spearhead project powered by FSB(Future Solution for Business)ltd.

What we deliver

[Provide the complete list of deliverables to the customer/target group] We are delivering 100% fresh vegetables without preservatives from farmers and they are the guarantee provider as no middleman are involved. Value can be added to the goods sold in terms of the location. For example, the prototype e-centre at Mongla has good access to renowned items only available in those southern areas/mangrove forests such as tiger prawns and Sundarban honey respectively. The unique selling proposition of our goods is that they are always fresh and also come at a cheaper price than what the current market offers. Each of e-centres has 1-2 person who is position In Quality Controller. Though the centres achieve more sales in cities, they act as virtual malls to both urban and rural areas. This growth of rural to rural marketing is important because it can be the future base for further plans of expansion. Especially, when we consider that one of the aims of Amar Desh eshop is to curb rural to urban migration, a strong diversified customer as well as supplier base spread all along the 64 districts of Bangladesh. From the customer or buying point of view, the people living in the rural areas can have access to a wider catalogue of goods because of e-shop.

Whom we deliver

[Describe your End users, including various categories] We have not done any in-depth study to find out the exact number of gainers and losers, but based on our observation on our projects, we can extrapolate the approximate number of people of different professions who will likely to be benefitted from the scale up of the project: 1) More than 20, 000 women (1150 women are already registered) will have access to market and sell their hand made products; such as clothes, nokshikatha, bedcovers etc. through e-centres. 2) To date 750 registered farmers across the country in our 6 centres and are selling their products with more fair income through e-centres. At-least 15, 000 new farmers will have access if we can scale up to 64 locations. 3) 7-9 individuals in rural area will be employed by each e-centre. There are no gender hierarchy present during recruitment. In the fact Mongla e-centre employs 3 women and 4 men). It means once 64 e-centres achieved there would be 448-576 employees as total. A crash course training is provided free of cost to new employees. 4) The centre is also responsible for providing ICT training to the local villages at a subsidised rate. Women are given free IT training; the centre at Mongla trains 30 individuals. 5) The centres also act as an information hub in the rural areas, where valuable information can be provided to the locals. 6) The centre also acts as a bazaar, where locals can buy products being offered on the Amar Desh website. Rural sales constituted to approximately 1 lakh BDT. How this project involving low-income people: Our project is benefitting low income people mainly as producers and also as consumers. At this time there are 60-70 customer orders per week mainly from urban areas. Most of the producers registered at e-shops are now earning a higher income than what they used to through the usual value chains. Some groups of producers such as handicraft makers are benefitting from employment for the first time and this too can be said to be the case for some upcoming farmers, who have started their business through our e commerce medium. The low income bracket benefits as consumers as they themselves have the option of exploring newer cheaper goods through e commerce. Also in terms of consuming a service, they can browse and be involved in the many helpful and entertaining websites e-Desh has to offer. Finally, employees are directly hired to maintain the e- centres, and also provide. People who are using e-centres, and in particlaur women who are trading on www.amardesheshop.com , report that the ability to work at home and generate income through direct sales is extremely empowering. For many women the only option to contribute to household income is to move to Dhaka to work in the RMG sector, or a siamailr job away from their homes and communities. Amar Desh is successfully giving women an alternative choice which is better for them and their families.

How is the project unique?

[Describe the Uniqueness of your Innovation in terms of Originality of Idea / Method/ Business Model/ Technology / Application / Implementation process that your product/project has which makes it different] E-commerce have been implemented so many times , so many countries but it is very rare and in our country we are the pioneer to take e-commerce to mass people.E-commerce was always for a lifestyle example NBR(non residential Bangladeshi) who are living aboard would sent flowers or gift to the loved oneor families on occassion but we are the pioneer to start e-commerce in a different level for mass people and for the underprivileged people. In a country like Bangladesh, just introducing e-trade or popularizing the concept is innovative on its own. On top of this we are taking the technology to the masses of people in the rural areas to enable them to do e trade. E-trade assists in reducing the transaction costs and also connects local SME to markets in the urban areas (Dhaka) as well as different rural markets across the country, and hence facilitating the whole business process. Travelling costs are reduced and in some instances are non- existent. E-trading creates a means of self-employment which reduces the rural-urban migration rate. It never happened in Bangladesh retailer Customers buying directly from the producers 1000 miles away .Same way a producers gets his money before delivering his goods.Technology makes it possible and e-commerce is the only solution. We are making both rural and urban collaboration www.bangladeshbrands.com will serve the rural people necessity and www.amardesheshop.com will give all the people both rural and urban a wider market place with cheaper price and fresh products, without formalin, preservatives and chemicals. FSB www.amardesheshop.com is the only website with physical e centre which other don’t have This e-center works as a town center for rural community to serve other activities like education, culture,tourist,health , information and etc. FSB(Future Solution for Business)ltd is the only private ltd company in Bangladesh to be nationwide recognize and to get national digital award on e-commerce, business and finance category. Link: http://www.eaward.org.bd/eaward_new/PDF/77.pdf

Roadmap

Govt. Has a vision to digitize Bangladesh within 2021 where FSB has already digitized Mongla and Norshingdi within 2011. So far Amar Desh Amar Gram has seven e-centres across Bangladesh with a target of scaling up to meet the needs of people. Currently, the flagship e-centre is operating at Mongla it was established in 2009. And 6 other centres have also been established, even though it is to be mentioned not in the scale or capacity of the Mongla centre as of yet. The six centres are located in Syhlet, Noshingdhi, Rongpur, Tangail, Jamalpur and Barisal. Over 1150 registered women producers geared up for trading online and at least four enthusiastic young entrepreneurs (fashion designers) are placing orders on a regular basis manually through amar desh amar gram e-centre at mongla, providing employment for more than 650 underprivileged women, who are now working from the comfort of their own homes.750 farmers who are selling vegetables and lots of weavers and craftsman . Future Plan: Site evaluation has been made for 30 more e-centres in different locations of the country. Not only will this act in securing more supply but also providing diversified goods to consumers. FSB plans in setting up 64 e-centres in the hopes of covering the 64 districts in Bangladesh; it has further long term plans of establishing 480 centres. But the lack of funds does act as a major constraint to any expansion plan being considered.

Contact

FSB (Future Solution for Business) ltd

Ataur Rahman, Sadequa Hassan Sejuti

House 44, road 11/A, Apt B1, Dhanmondi R/A Dhaka Bangladesh- 120900
URL/Website – http://www.fsb.org.uk/