SWISSAID

What SWISSAID does

SWISSAID is a private Swiss development foundation (Stiftung) founded in 1948, headquartered in Bern at Lorystrasse 6a, with a second Swiss office in Lausanne. The organization fights hunger and promotes sustainable livelihoods in the Global South through programs in nine countries across three continents: Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Tanzania, Chad, Kenya, India, Myanmar, Ecuador, and Colombia. Its thematic focus areas are agroecology, gender equality, seed sovereignty, climate adaptation, responsible raw materials, and emergency aid. Approximately 180+ staff implement field projects and around 300,000 beneficiaries were reached in 2025. The foundation is ZEWO-certified, ensuring audited handling of donations, and operates under Swiss foundation law (commercial register CHE-105.911.139).

SWISSAID's core methodology is the promotion of agroecological farming practices, local seed systems, and women's empowerment among smallholder farming communities, in opposition to industrial agriculture and seed privatization. In 2023, 57,487 farming families used agroecological methods, 41,057 people gained access to regional seeds, and 21,040 households overcame food shortages. The organization delivers programs through direct field operations and a network of local partner organizations, and contributes case studies to coalitions including the Sufosec Alliance (six Swiss NGOs covering ~125,000 households of nutrition data), the Agroecology Works! Network, the Agroecology Coalition, and IPES-FOOD. It partners operationally with the World Food Programme on school canteens in Chad.

The revenue model is donation-based across four streams: private donations from approximately 45,000 individuals (with suggested monthly tiers of 60/120/240 CHF), institutional funding from government agencies and foundations, philanthropy and corporate partnerships including legacy gifts, and school programs. Around 18 million CHF was deployed in 2025 for sustainable self-help projects. GTM motion is direct-to-consumer in Switzerland through website donations, newsletters, a podcast ('Hungrig auf Lösungen' / 'En quête de solutions'), a quarterly multilingual magazine, social media, annual Agroecology Days events, and door-to-door campaigns via third-party face-to-face fundraising firms.

Name

SWISSAID

Legal name

Stiftung SWISSAID

Website

https://swissaid.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development Aid

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Nutrition & Food Security (Global Health) NGOs (HLAJAKAH), Global Health Financing Mechanisms & Pooled Funds (HLAJAOAC), International & Global Public Health Aid Administration (Government Donors) (HLAJALAO)

Keywords

• International development aid
• Agroecology programs
• Hunger relief projects
• Gender equality programs
• Climate change adaptation

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Private Donations: Individual donors contribute through various programs including monthly donations, one-time gifts, and sponsorship. The organization had approximately 45,000 donors supporting their work in 2025.
2. Institutional Funding: Support from institutional donors including government agencies, foundations, and development organizations to fund development projects in partner countries.
3. Philanthropy and Partnerships: Corporate partnerships, major gifts, and legacy bequests from wealthy individuals and philanthropists.
4. School Programs: Schools participate through educational partnerships, school sponsorships, and student engagement programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

SWISSAID is a Swiss development foundation that funds and implements long-term rural development and humanitarian programs in nine partner countries across three continents. Its work centers on fighting hunger through agroecology, advancing gender equality, supporting climate change adaptation, advocating for seed and raw materials sovereignty, and delivering emergency aid, reaching approximately 300,000 beneficiaries with annual expenditures of around 18 million CHF.

Product overview

SWISSAID is a Swiss development NGO (not a technology company) whose primary offerings are development cooperation programs in nine countries, supplemented by content/communication products including publications (annual reports, nutrition studies, agroecology reports, position papers), the SWISSAID Magazine, a podcast series 'En quête de solutions – 5 facets of hunger', and an online donation platform. SWISSAID does not offer a software product in the traditional sense; their programs focus on sustainable agriculture (agroecology), gender equality, climate adaptation, and food security. The organization also produces school educational materials and maintains a multilingual web presence for donor engagement and project dissemination.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agroecology and Food Sovereignty Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 300,000 beneficiaries supported in 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Sufosec AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSufosec – Swiss Alliance for Sustainable Food Worldwide – is a coalition of six Swiss NGOs with the goal of permanently overcoming global hunger. SWISSAID is a member along with Helvetas, Interpeace, IUCN, Light for the World, and SDC. The alliance publishes nutrition reports based on data from around 125,000 households and conducts joint advocacy work.
• Agroecology Works! NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSWISSAID co-founded this network to show the public the potential of agroecology and campaign for political change in Switzerland.
• World Food Programme (WFP)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSWISSAID and WFP collaborate on school canteens in Chad, guaranteeing every child a daily meal in the south and east of the country.
• Seed Savers NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKenyan partner organization implementing community seed bank projects to protect rural livelihoods and strengthen food security through farmer-led initiatives.
• Agroecology CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSWISSAID contributes case studies to the Agroecology Coalition, showcasing agroecology in action with stories from the ground.
• IPES-FOODmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on reports regarding digital innovation in agriculture, with SWISSAID projects in Ecuador and Colombia featured as examples of equitable approaches to digital agroecology.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Oxfam International: Global confederation of development NGOs working on poverty, food security, and gender equality. Overlaps with SWISSAID on agroecology, gender, and climate themes, but at vastly greater scale; compete with SWISSAID for media attention and institutional donor funds.
• Caritas Switzerland: Large Swiss development and humanitarian organization based in Switzerland with similar mandate around hunger, gender, and international development. Direct competitor for Swiss individual donors and ZEWO-certified institutional trust.
• CARE International: Global humanitarian and development organization with comparable focus on women's empowerment, food security, and climate resilience. Operates in many of the same countries as SWISSAID and competes for institutional funding from the same government donors.
• World Vision International: Large faith-based humanitarian organization with sponsorship-driven donor model similar to SWISSAID's individual giving programs. Both rely on mass-market donor engagement and child/sponsor program mechanics.
• Welthungerhilfe: Large German development NGO focused on hunger, food security, and rural development across a similar Global South footprint. Both organizations compete in the DACH/Northern European donor market and focus on agroecology and smallholder farming as core themes.

Direct peers

• Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation: Swiss development NGO with a comparable operational model: agroecology/rural livelihoods focus, similar ~9-country footprint, multiple thousands of Swiss individual donors, and co-member of the Sufosec Alliance. Head-to-head peer for both Swiss donor wallet share and institutional funding.
• Light for the World: Austrian/Swiss development NGO co-member of the Sufosec Alliance alongside SWISSAID. Operates in similar countries with comparable program size, fundraising approach in the DACH region, and thematic overlap on inclusion and rights.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): Sufosec Alliance co-member with environmental and biodiversity focus that overlaps SWISSAID's agroecology and seed biodiversity work. Both are Swiss-headquartered and compete for similar institutional environmental funding.
• Interpeace: Swiss-headquartered peacebuilding organization and Sufosec Alliance co-member. Overlaps with SWISSAID in working across partner countries in Africa and Latin America with similar project scale and funding mix.
• Solidarités International: French-headquartered NGO operating in similar fragile-state contexts (Sahel, Chad, Niger, Myanmar) with comparable project size and focus on food security, WASH, and livelihoods for vulnerable populations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SWISSAID
• Facebookfacebook.com/swissaid.global
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/swissaid

Compliance1 record

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 SWISSAID