Wycliffe Sande, a 42-year-old Ugandan-born entrepreneur now living in South London, has turned a childhood of hardship into a thriving coffee business that feeds nearly 2,000 schoolchildren in Uganda. After being orphaned at 12 and surviving by picking coffee beans, he founded Blue Turaco, a coffee company that pays farmers a premium and funds two school meals for every bag sold.
From Tragedy to Triumph
Sande's father died when he was just eight, and his mother suffered a devastating breakdown that left her non-verbal for a year. She died four years later, leaving Sande an orphan at 12. During his school years, he spent evenings and weekends picking coffee beans, collecting firewood, and fetching water to support his family.
“I never really had a childhood. Other children were playing football while I was monitoring the time because I had to collect firewood, fetch water and pick coffee, but at the time, that was just my reality,” Sande told reporters.
A Family Rejection That Shaped Him
After his mother's death, a family meeting was held to decide who would care for the young orphan. No one stepped forward. “That was my first proper understanding of rejections,” Sande recalled. Fortunately, his great-aunt's ex-husband, YY Yakoyasi, offered him a home. Sande credits Yakoyasi as one of the most influential figures in his life, saying, “He was a very intelligent man and taught me some of the most important lessons I've ever learned.”
A Chance Conversation Sparked a Business
Sande eventually studied law in London and secured a corporate job. But it was a conversation with his wife that drew him back to coffee. “My wife told me she loved coffee, and I told her Uganda has so much of it. She went looking for Ugandan coffee in supermarkets but couldn't find any. I was shocked. Whenever I found it, it wasn't called Uganda coffee; it would be blended and labelled East African coffee,” he said.
This realization led him to create Blue Turaco, a brand that works directly with farming communities in Uganda, paying growers a premium for higher-quality beans. “For me, coffee is not just a drink. Coffee is school fees; coffee is medicine; coffee is livelihoods,” Sande explained.
Feeding Futures Through Coffee
Blue Turaco's school meals programme supports nearly 2,000 children across seven schools in Uganda. Each bag of coffee sold funds two school meals. Sande visits the schools and has seen the impact firsthand. “Every school we work with has reported improved attendance since the meals started. What makes it even more incredible is knowing that all these trace back to the coffee. It's because people are buying our coffee that we're able to have this impact,” he said.
This year, five more schools have requested to join the programme, which would expand Sande's reach to 2,500 children across 12 schools. Sande, who understands hunger from personal experience, said, “I understand exactly what it feels like to sit in school all day without food. I lived it. When lunch comes and some children can eat while others can’t because they don’t have money, that’s heartbreaking. No child should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from while they’re trying to learn.”
Inspiring the Next Generation
Sande hopes his story inspires others to find purpose, whether in entrepreneurship or the corporate world. “I'm one of the most fortunate people I know. I get to do work I love, knowing it matters beyond me now and in the future. We can find our true calling in any space we find ourselves in, including the corporate world,” he said.
“One day I want a young person to see our coffee on a shelf and think, ‘If he could do it, maybe I can too.’”
