Mission and Vision

The Cycling out of Poverty Foundation believes that mobility, especially through bicycles, is a powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty. Their motto is often summarized as “a bike makes the difference.” They focus on improving access to education, healthcare, markets, and social opportunities by removing transport barriers.

Structure and Presence in Uganda

CooP-Africa operates through country branches, with CooP-Uganda based in Jinja. The Ugandan branch runs bicycle-centered social enterprises and community programs, combining aid with sustainable business models. Two key enterprises include:

Bikeventures: offers bike tours, rentals, and volunteer accommodations, with profits supporting community programs.

The Green Hub: designs and manufactures bicycles locally, creating jobs and ensuring sustainability.

Beneficiaries

CooP-Uganda’s projects are designed to support:

Students who need reliable transport to reach schools.

Health workers who must travel to remote patients.

Entrepreneurs and farmers who need better access to markets.

Low-income families in rural or periurban areas who face daily mobility challenges.

Key Programs
Program Purpose Highlights
Bike4School Provides bicycles to students, reducing long commutes and improving school attendance. Education-focused initiative.
Bike4Care Equips health volunteers and workers with bicycles. Expands health outreach capacity.
Bike4Work Supports farmers and entrepreneurs with bicycles. Increases income and productivity.
Green Hub Local design and production of bicycles. Builds a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Bikeventures Social enterprise offering tours and rentals. Generates revenue for programs.

A recent addition to their work includes Bike4School Gardens, which integrates bicycle distribution with school gardens, agroforestry, and solar light projects.

Sustainability Model

CooP-Uganda combines social enterprises with donor and volunteer support. Revenue from bike tourism and local bicycle production helps cover costs, while partnerships and fundraising fuel program expansion. This hybrid model reduces dependency on donations and strengthens long-term impact.

Achievements and Challenges

Strengths

Multi-dimensional approach: addressing education, healthcare, and livelihoods at once.

Strong focus on local production and enterprise.

Relevant interventions for rural and transport-limited communities.

Challenges and Unknowns

Limited publicly available data on impact metrics (e.g. specific improvements in school attendance or health outcomes).

The scale of operations in Uganda isn’t always clear.

Bicycle maintenance and spare parts in rural areas remain a challenge.

Balancing financial sustainability between social enterprise revenue and donor support.