'We are not into charity'

Q&A: Kurt Hoffman

Kurt Hoffman, president, Shell Foundation, who was in India to review CSR activities, tells Aasha Khosa that every good development idea should be turned into a business opportunity for sustainability.

What got you to India this time?

I came to attend the meeting of the advisory board of our ongoing "breathing space" programme. This programme is about giving fuel efficient cooking stoves to families with less than one dollar daily earnings in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. We aim to give these stoves to some 10 million families spread across 11 states.

Any new plans?

We have just launched a pilot project in Maharashtra to supply brickets made of agricultural waste to the medium and small industrial plants. This is challenging for our NGO partners since they have to persuade the plant-owners to put in a lot of money into buying the plants.

The gains of this project are manifold "" for the environment, fuel economy and more importantly, it would generate a fresh source of income for the farmers. They can now sell their bagash (sugarcane waste), peanut shells and corn cobs for making fuel bricks.

Do you have any target in this?

Our foundation works on a different pattern. We are not into charity but to make options available to the poor at an affordable cost and then to eventually convert the idea into a sensible business proposition. Our fundamental belief is that to sustain a good idea at changing the lives of the people it should be converted into a business.

A small entrepreneur would surely find it hard to purchase a high-tech plant?

Yes, it seems so initially. But then, we have a scientific solution to this. We use energy servicing companies for this project. While we take all the risk for the plant, the plant owner needs to just pay back the cost of the plant out of the net savings he starts making because of the new fuel. This way it does not pinch him.

Also, the plant owners could get carbon credits. It seems, seven plant owners in Thane who are using these plants are currently in negotiations with western companies for selling carbon credits.

India seems to have become a global hub for NGOs and corporate foundations. Your comments?

India is very important for us. With its network of NGOs and the challenges of poverty reduction and clean technologies, we consider India as an important region. In fact, we are in the process of listing our experiences in India into training modules to be replicated in many countries in Africa and even Asia.

The fuel efficient stove, in particular, is going to be taken up on a global project and as an integral part of our poverty reduction plans across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

www.shellfoundation.org