Shell Foundation

⚡️ In the informal economy, the green transition is measured in income stability, not megawatts. More than 2 billion people work informally worldwide. In Africa and Asia, where this represents 86% and 68% of employment respectively, millions of street vendors, smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs depend on affordable, reliable energy to sustain daily income. For them, energy does not simply power equipment. It determines whether they can receive payments, reduce losses, or increase productivity. Adopting cleaner solutions, however, involves upfront costs and financial risk, often difficult to absorb when income is irregular. Through its partnerships, Shell Foundation aims to support models that lower operating costs and align repayments with real income flows. Early evidence shows productivity gains in some cases. But this does not consistently translate into more stable or higher incomes. The real test now is whether the transition strengthens income stability, or shifts more risk onto those least able to absorb it. #InclusiveGrowth #EnergyTransition #InformalEconomy #ShellFoundation

📷 How can more value from bamboo stay with the farmers who grow it? Shell Foundation is partnering with @Industreefdn to launch a new approach to address this. Fast-growing and able to thrive on degraded land, bamboo can produce for up to 40 years. Yet much of its value is lost before it reaches industrial markets. Through a $4m grant, the programme is piloting a new, women-centric model, combining high-yield nurseries and solar-powered pre-processing centres run by women-led Farmer Producer Organisations. The objective is to help farmers capture more value locally, with a proof of concept targeting up to 40% income uplift—and potential to reach one million women by 2032. What we still need to understand is whether this model can consistently deliver higher incomes at scale while meeting industrial demand. #InclusiveGrowth #ClimateResilience #India #ShellFoundation

🌍 Clean cooking is usually framed as a household issue. New evidence shows it’s also a business opportunity. In #India, millions of micro food vendors depend on cooking for their daily income, yet most still rely on LPG exposing them to high upfront costs, price volatility and tough working conditions. New field evidence supported by Shell Foundation and the UK Government via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, and implemented by @Finovista, shows electric cooking can change that dynamic. In a recent pilot, 75% of vendors reported income increases. Not because they switched fuels overnight but because the way they worked changed: faster preparation, parallel cooking, cleaner stalls and more predictable costs. Adoption was incremental. Vendors integrated electric cooking task by task, expanding use as confidence grew reflecting how informal businesses actually operate. The lesson is clear: clean cooking works when it improves productivity and cashflow, not just when it cuts emissions. The remaining question is scale. Reliable electricity, fit‑for‑purpose devices and accessible financing will determine how far and how fast this can go. 🔗 Read the full blog: shellfoundation.org/news/from-flam… 📄 Explore the full report: shellfoundation.org/wp-content/upl… #CleanCooking #EnergyTransition #InclusiveGrowth #ShellFoundation

🌱 Smallholder farmers are central to climate solutions, yet they remain largely underserved by global climate finance. Too often, capital struggles to reach the farm gate in ways that are practical, investable, and aligned with farmers’ realities. That’s why Shell Foundation supported the launch of #FarmCarbon, a $53m climate finance vehicle created by Sistema.bio, with first close led alongside BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts and British International Investment (BII). FarmCarbon focuses on one of the most powerful drivers of near-term warming: methane, which accounts for 30% of global warming. By pre-financing proven biogas technology for smallholder and family farms, the vehicle enables farmers to access the value of future carbon reductions upfront — unlocking new income streams while cutting emissions at scale. For Shell Foundation, this is exactly where catalytic capital matters most: taking early risk, helping structure an investable model, and demonstrating that climate finance in agriculture can deliver environmental integrity, commercial discipline and tangible livelihood gains. The first close could facilitate financing for more than 90,000 Sistema.bio digesters, generating over 9 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions reductions. Learn more: sistema.bio/blog/sistema-b… #ClimateFinance #Methane #SmallholderFarmers #CleanEnergy #ShellFoundation

👩🏾‍🌾 In #WestAfrica, #women make up up to 60% of the agricultural workforce, cultivating small plots with limited resources and high exposure to climate shocks. While technologies that improve yields and reduce post-harvest losses are widely available, women farmers are often excluded due to limited access to formal credit and capital. Supported by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (@FCDOGovUK), Shell Foundation and Startup Discovery School is launching the West Africa Aggregator Service Platform (WAASP), a pilot exploring risk-sharing and service-based models to reduce upfront costs, distribute risk, and make proven agri-technologies viable for women farmers. Additional support provided by Autodesk Foundation and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to enhance innovation design, technical validation and research rigor. We are leveraging three established farmer networks, myAgro in #Senegal, Vitara and Complete Farmer in #Ghana, the platform will aim to raise women's incomes by at least 20% and reach at least 200,000 farmers by 2030. The first cohort of technology and solution providers includes Synnefa (smart solar drying tech), ColdHubs Limited (solar-powered cold storage), Irri-hub (solar irrigation systems), and others that align with women farmer's realities. 🌐 Learn more: startupdiscovery.co/openinnovation… #ClimateAction #FoodSecurity #WomenInAgriculture

The results also offer practical lessons on what works – and what still needs to change – to ensure women entrepreneurs can fully participate in emerging clean energy markets.

👩🏽‍🌾👩🏾‍💼 On International Women’s Day, @ShellFoundation is sharing insights from its Gender Results-Based Financing pilot, exploring how clean energy can help unlock income opportunities for #women entrepreneurs. Delivered with Odyssey Energy Solutions and CrossBoundary Advisory, and jointly funded by Shell Foundation and the UK Government via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, the 20-month programme supported clean energy appliance distributors working with women entrepreneurs across #Kenya, #Nigeria and #Tanzania. From clean cooking and solar irrigation to cold storage, the pilot tested how targeted financing and technical support can help companies reach more women customers while generating meaningful economic outcomes. 🔗 Read the key findings: shellfoundation.org/news/what-gend… 📄 Explore the full report: shellfoundation.org/learning-repor… #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026 #CleanEnergy #EnergyAccess

🌍 Clean energy investment is breaking records. Why is access still uneven? Global energy transition investment reached $2.3 trillion in 2025 (@BloombergNEF). Yet Africa, home to 20% of the world’s population, receives only around 2% of global clean energy capital. Much of this capital flows to mature markets and large-scale projects. Meanwhile, low-income households and informal entrepreneurs struggle to access affordable finance for productive clean energy assets. The core challenge lies in how financial risk is allocated. From a lender’s perspective: 🔹 Irregular incomes and limited credit histories increase perceived default risk From a customer’s perspective: 🔹The initial payment for a solar system, clean stove, or electric vehicle can equal several months’ earnings 🔹Illness, poor harvest or market shocks can interrupt repayments When risk sits heavily on both sides, adoption slows. Shell Foundation works with the @FCDOGovUK and other partners to test financing approaches that seek to rebalance risk between lenders and low-income customers, with the ultimate goal of increasing capital and access to livelihoods-enhancing clean energy solutions. #ClimateFinance #InclusiveGrowth #EnergyTransition #ShellFoundation

🌍 #OnTheGround | “There’s nothing like getting a first-hand account of what is happening on the ground.” – Vinita Bali, Trustee of Shell Foundation During our last convening in India, the Shell Foundation team and trustees visited several initiatives and met customers face to face. These moments offered a deeper understanding of the real impact behind the work. For Vinita Bali, Trustee of Shell Foundation, being on site and engaging with communities reaffirmed a simple truth: strategy only has value when it reflects lived realities and delivers in practice. 🗣️ Watch Vinita’s reflections from the ground in the video. @ZyppElectric, @Finovista, ETO Motors via @sidbiofficial (Small Industries Development Bank of India), Refvin, Mufin Green Finance #OnTheGround #InclusiveGrowth #ShellFoundation

🥬 #OnTheGround | « The cold chain has really empowered us » - Frimina Joseph, Operations Manager at @eafoods_ For many smallholder farmers, income is lost not because they cannot grow more, but because they cannot preserve what they harvest. In Tanzania alone, 40% of produce is wasted due to poor storage, transport, and market access. At @eafoods_ , a company connecting smallerholder farmers with buyers, daily collections increased from around 10–16 tonnes to up to 60 tonnes per day once solar-powered cold rooms were installed, enabling farmers to bring larger volumes and reduce post-harvest losses. For women farmers in particular, who represent more than half the agricultural workforce in Tanzania, this translates into more consistent earnings and greater stability. As volumes grow, the focus shifts to reliability: how can these systems continue to perform at scale while keeping farmers at the centre? 🎥 Frimina shares how this transition is unfolding in practice. #ColdChain #WomenInAg #InclusiveGrowth #ShellFoundation

Introducing Sankalp Africa Summit 2026 — Africa’s 🌍 largest platform for impact entrepreneurship and inclusive growth! Join us 🗓️ 25–26 February 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya as we unite entrepreneurs, impact investors, ecosystem builders, policymakers and thought leaders from across Africa and the Global South, to unlock new pathways for innovation, partnerships, capital and climate action. Under the theme “South–South Rising”, Sankalp will deepen collaboration across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East — driving sustainable solutions and collective impact at scale. Be part of the movement where ideas meet capital and purpose turns into action. 🚀 Register here: lnkd.in/dYSuGmPn #SankalpAfrica2026 #SouthSouthRising #ImpactInvesting #ClimateAction #Entrepreneurship #InclusiveGrowth

🇰🇪 Last week in hashtag#Nairobi, we had the pleasure of bringing together partners and peers for an evening gathering. The evening followed a week-long team retreat in Kenya, during which Shell Foundation’s team spent time with the customers we serve in Kenya, from transporters and micro-entrepreneurs to smallholder farmers. Our CEO, Jonathan Berman, spoke about Kenya’s critical role for Shell Foundation as both a regional hub and a testing ground where solutions for customers are designed, piloted, and scaled. Thank you to all who joined us, and to our technology, scale, and financial partners who enable our impact on the ground. 📸 Some pictures from the evening: #InclusiveGrowth #EnergyTransition #ShellFoundation #Kenya

🔥 #OnTheGround | Clean cooking can improve livelihoods when solutions are designed for everyday use. In India, many street food vendors and micro-entrepreneurs continue to rely on biomass and firewood, with direct impacts on health, safety, and operating costs. Moving to electric cooking requires more than new equipment; it needs simplified access to utilities, connection to government programmes to finance costs, after-sales services, and awareness-raising campaigns. Partners such as Finovista play a critical role in this transition, providing technical assistance and programme support that helps clean cooking solutions work for micro-vendors in practice. This focus on delivery models where technology, affordability, and everyday realities align sits at the heart of Shell Foundation’s work on clean cooking. See below for how this approach is applied in practice. #CleanCooking #ShellFoundation #EnergyTransition

📄 Shell Foundation is signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (@EESL_India) at @IndiaEnergyWeek 2026. #India is home to more than 63 million small businesses, employing over 110 million people. It has also been central to Shell Foundation’s work on enterprise-led energy solutions, from electric mobility to clean cooking and productivity-enhancing tools for these customers. This MoU marks a next step in that journey, with a shared focus on improving efficiency, livelihoods, and working conditions for micro and small businesses that depend on reliable energy. By combining @EESL_India’s public-sector scale with Shell Foundation’s experience in supporting clean energy solutions that raise incomes, the collaboration aims to help proven, green technologies reach scale across India. #IndiaEnergyWeek #EnergyTransition #InclusiveGrowth #CleanEnergy

🌾 What does solar irrigation change for smallholder farmer productivity in Kenya? New evidence from Kenya shows that off-grid solar irrigation can support more productive farming, by expanding irrigated land, improving crop reliability and enabling shifts towards higher-value production. Based on an independent evaluation by @DukeUniversity9 of @SunCultureKenya's PAYGO model, supported by Shell Foundation and the UK Government via the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK), the findings also highlight transition costs, particularly around liquidity, labour use and household decision-making. 🔗 Blog here: shellfoundation.org/news/how-solar… 🔗 Full research paper here: energyaccess.duke.edu/publication/ev… #SolarIrrigation #AgriculturalProductivity #InclusiveGrowth

🌍 Early-stage finance remains one of the hardest gaps to close for climate-focused enterprises in Africa. In this conversation with @TechCabal, Carrie Liauw, Executive Director at @500GlobalVC, and @JulietteKeeley , Chief Impact Officer at Shell Foundation, reflect on how the Sustainable Innovation Program is addressing the constraints facing climate-tech startups. The discussion highlighted a core lesson for us: improving access to finance often requires addressing structural barriers such as affordability, risk perception, and the lack of early-stage capital — not just accelerating growth. 🔗 Read the full conversation below: techcabal.com/fr/2026/01/19/… #ClimateTech #InclusiveGrowth #ShellFoundation