Innovative Youth with Action Uganda (IYAU)

Organisation Name
Plot 99C, Old Mbale Road, Pamba, Western Division,
Address
Soroti Municipality, Soroti District
+256 784893749
Telephone Number(s)

E-mail Address innovativeyouth2014@gmail.com

Web Address www.iyau.org
Facebook Page www.facebook.com/iyauuganda/
Contact person Joseph Apetu (Programs Manager)
Contact Person, Phone number +256755014515
Year organization was registered
2015
Legal status of the organization
Community Based Organisation
Registration Number 304
Vision:- a Uganda without poverty
Mission:- Empowering young people with practical skills
for job creation
Organizations mission Core services and capabilities:- Livelihoods, Education
statement/purpose & primary and training, job creation and enterprise development,
sectors of the organizations Environment and climate change, Public health and
operation sanitation, Entrepreneurship and financial management,
agriculture and forestry, Capacity building, Human rights
advocacy

Name and address of the bank:

Bank Name: Centenary Rural Development Bank Ltd
Branch Name: Soroti Branch
Address: P.O.Box 420, Soroti, Plot 36 Gweri road
Bank Details
Number and name of the bank account:
Account Name: Innovative Youth with Action Uganda
Account number: 4510613220
Shift Code: CERBUGKA
Better livelihood through biomass briquettes production in Uganda

Project Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short
sentences.

The key idea is to involve women and youth to recycle 50 tonnes of banana peels, Rice husks,
maize cobs, millet and sorghum cobs, groundnut shells, saw dust and other waste materials
(biomass) a day into briquettes for heating, create jobs and substitute the commonly used fuel
wood/charcoal that is considered the prime factor for fast depletion of green forest causing
imbalance in the ecosystem

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

40% of the trees cut down in Uganda/sub-Saharan Africa is as a result of charcoal burning and
traditional firewood for heating purposes in homes and other institutions with lots of smoke
having direct negative impact on health, especially causing respiratory and eye diseases to
women and children who are always exposed to open air fires. This project will provide clean
briquettes from banana peels for heating and create jobs for women involved

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Ugandas rural/urban population meets their energy needs from the traditional sources like fuel
wood /charcoal and expensive electricity. The solution is to recycle banana peels which are
produced in every home as waste to produce clean briquettes for heating and reduce on the
trees cut down. This project will create over 200 local jobs; these jobs will range from the skilled
jobs eg sales and marketing of briquettes, retail and wholesale of briquettes, trainers service
fees, and savings and credit facility by the briquette producers associations. Low-skilled jobs will
range from biomass collection, transportation, char production and vending, this will reduce on
the women and youth who are unemployed, engage them in productive ventures,

Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference;
include its primary activities.
 Soroti District and Soroti municipality will be covered as pilot project sites for briquettes
promotion and dissemination and it will be rolled out to the rest of Teso sub region.
60 entrepreneurs will be trained and equipped with suitable technology eg kiln or
charring drums, or machine compressing, etc. for briquette production.
About a minimum of 450 to 720 poor households (women and men) will be employed in
the process of briquette making and distribution, from collection of raw material
biomass to briquette making to transportation and distribution of the same. There could
be many more laborers that are seasonal involved. activities training, demonstration,
monitoring, marketing for Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed
project differ from these approaches?

There are small scale groups producing briquettes in Uganda , the difference with our proposed
intervention besides the technology, management, marketing strategy and continuous research
our competitive advantage lies in the raw material, banana peels, Millet cobs, Rice husk, maize
cobs, saw dust, and groundnuts shells are locally available and free, produced in 5-20kg every
day in every home, shops, carpentry workshops, gardens, markets and restaurants as waste,
this will involve women and youth in char making as well as briquettes making which will feed
in the overall chain briquette business developed from a sustainable network of consumers.

Your Solution
Founding Story: Share a story about the Aha! moment that led you to get started and/or to
see the potential for this to succeed.

It was one evening as i watched my mother straggling to make fire out of expensive charcoal
while carrying our last born at the back inhaling smoke. The idea came to my mind; i knew
Uganda was a banana growing country with over 50,000 tons of bananas consumed every day. I
tried to learn to make briquettes out of these peels which are a free raw material, good and
excellent conductors of heat once turned into briquettes and i knew the project would provide
a unique product in biomass briquette production and renewable energy program. in my home
town alone women and youth are unemployed and over 2000 tons of bananas are consumed
with every home on average producing over 21 /2 kgs of banana peels which is always put aside
as waste.

Select Sector(s): To which of Unilever's categories of sustainability does your solution apply?

Climate change, Energy, Sanitation and Hygiene, Greenhouse Gases, Waste.

Measurable Impact
Audience: Who have you identified as your customers/recipients and why? How will you get
your solution to them or engage them in your initiative?
The project targets mainly all homes, businesses and institutions that use charcoal/fire wood as
a means of heating, currently charcoal is expensive with a lot of health and environmental
effects. The people are aware of these side effects and are will to take on any alternative
energy product that would be cleaner and cheap. briquettes out of banana peels, rice husks,
saw dust, cotton husks, and groundnut shells will be cheap because the raw material is readily
available and easily for any house wives (women) to learn making briquette on their own.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date and expected impact in the future?

Poverty alleviation
400 youth and women will receive self-employment in the process of biomass collection,
production, transportation and distribution of briquettes during the pilot period with more
potential to grow this number after the pilot phase.
This will result in improved incomes, beneficiary able to access basic need , improved house
hold savings

Job creation;
Over 200 local jobs, these jobs will rage from the skilled jobs eg sales and marketing of
briquettes, retail and wholesale of briquettes, trainers service fees, and savings and credit
facility by the briquette producers associations. Low-skilled jobs will range from biomass
collection, transportation, char production and vending
This will reduce on youth unemployed, engage them in productive ventures, clean Energy
access at 60% of by households will be achieved all this will be monitored by records, reports

Growth, Finance & Leadership

Scaling the Solution: How do you intend to scale your activities over the next two years (e.g.,
reach new markets, diversify solutions, etc.)? What will make this possible?

We will train more trainers of trainees in different areas, increase more selling points, form a
credit and savings facility for beneficially association, research and involve policy makers for
policy on clean energy alternatives.
This will take a team of 8 members and 5 community based groups that have been involved as
implementing partners in this initiative.
The wining of the prize money and the publicity out of this initiative will boost our project by,
being able to reach out to more than 400 possible char producers, gain more exposure, learn
much about business scale up and sustainability and help us to lobby our
government/authorities on clean energy alternatives.

Financial Sustainability: What is your business model to ensure financial sustainability?

The project will sustain after the completion of the first round funding. Since, promotion of
briquettes provide economic incentives to all those involved in the process, Biomass collectors,
briquette producers, transporters, and distributors get financial reward in the form of service
charges, wages and profit margins to be enhanced through linkages with a credit and savings
support center by the beneficially. This will help to access finances.

Experience: Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have
pioneered.

For 3 years i have been involved in entrepreneurship skills training and empowerment of
women and youth while working in partnership with community based groups at the grass root.
This has given me enough experience in engaging communities in development initiatives
i have managed to achieve establishment of a youth community centre in Soroti District which
will act as the central denominational point for briquette business.