1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Across the globe, Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) has a long tradition of creating sustainable impact in the communities it serves. However, time and resource constraints often mean that programme results are not fully assessed, documented and shared with staff or the general public. Recognising the power of good data dissemination, OGB embarked on a new initiative in early 2009. Called “Stories of Change”, this effort aims to combine quantitative results and ‘first-person’ narratives to develop strong communications materials that are backed up by rigorous programme data. Overall, “Stories of Change” profiles OGB project achievements and challenges in four key country sites: Malawi, Haiti, India, and Sri Lanka. This particular document focuses on Oxfam’s work in Haiti— and specifically, on the “Let Agogo” dairy network project. Established in 1999 by leading Haitian animal health NGO Veterimed and supported by OGB since its start1, Let Agogo has built a robust national network of 13 dairies that turn local producers’ milk into yoghurt, sterilised/pasteurised milk, and cheese, and which then sell these finished goods for profit in various sites across Haiti.
To date, Let Agogo has followed a simple, straightforward process to build its dairy network. The project constructs a dairy and supplies initial equipment, then hires local staff to run processing operations and recruits area dairy farmers to form a producer association which coordinates milk production and delivery (and ideally oversees dairy management in the long term). The project may also give local farmers supplies like water wells or cows, and give associations capacity building support and technical training. Farmers subsequently produce and sell their milk to the dairy, which then processes the raw milk into long-life sterilised bottled milk, pasteurized milk, flavoured yoghurt, and/or artisanal cheese. Finally, a Veterimed-funded marketing and purchasing “hub” called the Central Purchasing and Commercialisation Unit (or the “Central Unit”) coordinates marketing and sales for all dairies, finding clients to purchase the products, negotiating contracts and helping the dairies restock packaging supplies/equipment—a service for which it takes a small margin to cover its own costs. Dairies then deliver the products to clients, claim a small margin to cover their own expenses, and pass on an annual per-bottle premium to producers.
