Sawa World

What Sawa World does

Sawa World is a locally registered nonprofit NGO headquartered at Plot 271 Nanfumbambi Road, Makerere-Kikoni, Kampala, Uganda (with an organizational footprint traceable to Vancouver, British Columbia). The organization delivers free training in practical, locally-relevant income skills to marginalized youth in Uganda, enabling them to start micro-businesses with minimal startup capital. Its core service beneficiaries are unemployed and excluded youth — particularly smallholder coffee farmers in Central Uganda and women in informal settlements — who are reached through partner referrals, farming cooperatives, and community organizations.

The core technology consists of a proprietary content library of solution videos and downloadable learning posters, organized across three main categories: Green Planet (eco-friendly skills), Baked Goods, and Agriculture. The catalog includes roughly 25 individual income skill modules (Bee Farming, Solar Dryer Systems, Organic Pesticides, Poultry Farming, Goat Farming, Passion Fruit Farming, Coffee Kiosks, Coffee Flavored Cakes, Mushroom Growing Using Coffee Husks, African Earrings, Reusable Sanitary Pads, Eco-Fuel Briquettes, Fuel Saving Stove, Fruit Juice, Making Notebooks, Chalk Making, Dried Fruit Snacks, Dried Spices and Herbs, Nutritious Porridge Flour, and Urban Farming via Self-Irrigating Gardens). Training is delivered through three channels: a physical Solution Centre in Kampala, self-serve digital downloads of videos and posters on the website, and partner-hosted sessions run by organizations such as Fondazione Italia Uganda within their beneficiary communities. The flagship Ujana Coffee Project, co-developed with Fondazione Lavazza, focuses on income diversification for youth coffee farmers.

Sawa World operates a donation-and-grant-funded nonprofit revenue model. All training is provided free of charge to beneficiaries; no commercial pricing, subscription, or transaction fees exist. The organization reports cumulative impact since 2011 of 3,000+ youth reached directly, 5,500+ reached indirectly, 600+ micro-businesses started, and over $4 million USD in total income raised by youth-led businesses. The 23-person team is supported by a broad institutional partner ecosystem that includes Ashoka, Fondazione Lavazza, Salesforce, TechnoServe, Fondazione Italia Uganda, TeamUp Uganda, School for Life Foundation, Julius Meinl, UGACOF SUCAFINA, Sheraton Uganda, Insight Global Education, and the DREAMS Partnership.

Name

Sawa World

Legal name

Sawa World

Website

https://sawaworld.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sawa World is a Kampala-based nonprofit NGO that delivers free, video- and poster-based training in local income skills — across agriculture, eco-friendly products, and crafts — to marginalized Ugandan youth, enabling them to start micro-businesses with minimal capital.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vocational Skills Training and Youth Livelihood Programs

NAICS

Apprenticeship Training (611513), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) (BPADAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Economic Growth, Trade & Private Sector Development Programs (BPADABAF)

Keywords

• Vocational skills training
• Youth entrepreneurship programs
• Micro-business development
• Poverty alleviation NGO
• Income generation training

Headquarters

HQ city

Kampala

HQ country

Uganda

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: As a locally registered NGO in Uganda, Sawa World funds its operations primarily through donations and grants from institutional partners and foundations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sawa World is a locally registered NGO in Uganda that delivers free training in local income skills to marginalized youth, enabling them to start micro-businesses with minimal startup costs. Training is delivered through a library of video-based learning posters organized into Green Planet, Baked Goods, and Agriculture categories, a physical Solution Centre in Kampala, and partner-hosted training sessions. The flagship Ujana Coffee Project delivers specialized income diversification skills to youth smallholder coffee farmers in Central Uganda.

Product overview

Sawa World is an NGO offering a portfolio of local income skills training programs designed to help marginalized youth in Uganda start micro-businesses. The core offering consists of downloadable learning posters and video tutorials across three main categories: Green Planet (eco-friendly skills), Baked Goods, and Agriculture. Individual income skill modules include practical trades like Bee Farming, Solar Dryer Systems, Coffee Kiosks, Eco-Fuel Briquettes, Poultry Farming, Fruit Juice production, and craft-based skills like African Earrings and Handmade Sandals. The flagship Ujana Coffee Project provides specialized training to coffee farming youth. Training is delivered through Solution Videos & Posters (digital learning resources) and a physical Solution Centre where in-person training occurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ujana Coffee Project: A coffee project partnership with Fondazione Lavazza providing income skills training to youth coffee farmers in Central Uganda

Products and services

• Green Planet Skills Eco-friendly and sustainable income-generating skills category offering training in skills such as solar dryers, eco-fuel briquettes, organic pesticides, and fuel-saving stoves for marginalized youth in Uganda.
• Baked Goods Skills Local income skills category focused on producing and selling baked goods such as coffee-flavored cakes and nutritious porridge flour for marginalized youth in Uganda.
• Agriculture Skills Farming and agricultural income skills category covering modules such as goat farming, passion fruit farming, poultry farming, bee farming, and urban farming for micro-business startup by youth in Uganda.
• Bee Farming Skill Training Training in beekeeping and honey production using methods such as Kenyan Top Bar hives and Long Straw hives to produce honey, beeswax, and propolis for micro-businesses run by youth in Uganda.
• Solar Dryer Systems Skill Training on constructing and operating solar dryers for drying coffee, cassava, cocoa, grains, fruits, and leafy vegetables with capacities of up to 10kg per batch, enabling youth to start micro-businesses.
• Organic Pesticides Production Skill Training on making eco-friendly organic pesticides using locally available ingredients such as garlic, ginger, lemon, and chili for youth micro-businesses in Uganda.
• Ujana Coffee Project A collaborative program with Fondazione Lavazza providing income skills training to youth smallholder coffee farmers in Central Uganda to diversify income streams beyond primary coffee farming activities.
• Solution Centre Physical training center located at Plot 271 Nanfumbambi Road, Makerere - Kikoni, Kampala, where marginalized youth can learn local income skills in-person through structured training programs.
• Solution Videos & Posters Free library of video tutorials and downloadable learning posters teaching local income skills across Green Planet, Baked Goods, and Agriculture categories, enabling self-paced learning for youth across Uganda.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000+ youth reached directly with local income skills since 2011
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fondazione Italia UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Fondazione Italia Uganda organized training on home grown gardens in the Acholi Quarters Community in Kampala, in collaboration with Sawa World, providing alternative sources of income and food for community members.
• Ashoka ChangemakercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAshoka Changemaker recognition supports Sawa World as a leading social enterprise addressing poverty through innovative local solutions.
• Fondazione LavazzacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFondazione Lavazza partners with Sawa World on the Ujana Coffee Project, providing funding and strategic support to deliver income diversification skills to youth coffee farmers in Central Uganda.
• Julius MeinlminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJulius Meinl supports Sawa World's mission to provide local income skills to marginalized youth in Uganda.
• UGACOF SUCAFINAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUGACOF SUCAFINA collaborates with Sawa World to support coffee farming communities and youth income diversification initiatives.
• School for Life FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool for Life Foundation partners with Sawa World to support education and livelihood programs in Uganda.
• TeamUp UgandaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeamUp Uganda partners with Sawa World to support youth programs and community development initiatives.
• SalesforceminorOthersSalesforce provides technology support to Sawa World as part of its philanthropic and social impact programs.
• Sheraton UgandaminorOthersSheraton Uganda supports Sawa World as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives.
• TechnoServeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnoServe partners with Sawa World on programs supporting smallholder farmers and youth entrepreneurship in Uganda.
• Insight Global EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsight Global Education supports Sawa World's educational and skills training programs.
• DREAMS PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe DREAMS Partnership supports Sawa World's programs targeting vulnerable youth with skills and livelihood opportunities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• BRAC: One of the world's largest development NGOs operating skills training, microfinance, and youth entrepreneurship programs across multiple developing countries. BRAC is a broad incumbent with a comparable livelihood-skills-plus-microenterprise model but vastly larger geographic scope and resources than Sawa World.
• Heifer International: Large international development nonprofit training smallholder farmers in livestock, agriculture, and income-generating activities across Africa and Asia. Heifer is a broad incumbent whose livestock-and-agriculture income-skills model overlaps with Sawa World's poultry, goat, and farming modules.

Direct peers

• TechnoServe: US-based nonprofit focused on entrepreneurial skills training for smallholder farmers and youth in developing economies, including Uganda. TechnoServe is already a Sawa World partner but also competes for the same coffee-value-chain programming and smallholder livelihood donor pool.
• Restless Development: Youth-led development agency delivering livelihood and employability training to young people across East Africa and Asia. Directly comparable in target demographic (marginalized youth), geography (East Africa), and program model (skills training for income).
• Educate!: East Africa-focused nonprofit delivering skills, mentorship, and entrepreneurship training to youth in Uganda and Rwanda, with a model and target beneficiary population that closely mirror Sawa World's marginalized-youth income-skills approach.
• Generation: Global nonprofit that trains young people in market-relevant trades and supports them into employment or self-employment, including in East Africa. Closely comparable to Sawa World in target beneficiary (marginalized youth), training content (trade-based skills), and outcome metric (income generation).
• Digital Opportunity Trust: International nonprofit training underserved youth in digital, entrepreneurial, and income skills across Africa and the Middle East. Comparable as a peer in youth livelihood training and digital content delivery at a similar organizational scale to Sawa World.

Regional players

• Hearts of Gold (Uganda): Uganda-based nonprofit focused on skills training, education, and economic empowerment for disadvantaged youth and women. Operates in the same geography with a similar target population and approach to skills-based micro-enterprise enablement.

Emerging players

• Youth Impact: Nonprofit running cost-effective, evidence-driven youth education and livelihood programs in Uganda and other low-income countries. An emerging player with overlapping geography (Uganda) and beneficiary focus but more emphasis on education outcomes than Sawa World's micro-enterprise track.
• KickStart International: Nonprofit designing and distributing low-cost irrigation and farming tools for smallholder entrepreneurs in Africa, including Uganda. Comparable as a peer in enabling rural micro-businesses through agriculture-related training and tools.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sawa-world

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sawa World