Lèt Agogo, Tyot (Thiotte)

A community dairy unit started with the network of Lèt Agogo, which was actually started as a strategy to combat deforestation in Foret de Pins (a national protected forest) by providing alternative livelihood solutions.

Thiotte is a community that borders on Foredepen (Haiti's protected Pine Forest) to the south.
Historically, there has been challenges with people from this and other neighboring commuities cutting down the protected trees because of poverty and the feeling that they have no other livelihood options. So in 2005, the Haitian organisation Vetermined (the creators of Let Agogo) and Fondasyon Gwoup 73 visited the area and thought about an innovative intervention: establishing a franchise of Lèt Agogo in the area as a way to provide income to people as an alternative to cutting down trees. 

In 2006, Lèt Agogo Franchise in Foredepen was established, and within the first year it was buying over 2 dozen gallons of milk a day from the community members. It became so profitable for the community members that they established their own dairy farmer's cooperative, which began to train its 100 members on better practices and mobilise for more members to own their own cows. In the meantime, Lèt Agogo was earning contracts with the government to provide milk to half a dozen local schools. People saw the benefit of the milk not just for the livelihoods, but for their own children's health. Cutting down of trees has not completely stopped in Foredepen, but have been lessened slightly thanks to this innovative intervention.