Press release
PepsiCo, USAID Launch Five-Year, $20 Million Partnership to Empower Women in Agriculture
New initiative aims to demonstrate the business case for supporting a gender-inclusive supply chain while increasing sustainable food production PURCHASE,
About this update from Pepsico, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"New initiative aims to demonstrate the business case for supporting a gender-inclusive supply chain while increasing sustainable food production\n\n\nPURCHASE, N.Y., Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) announced a new five-year, $20 million partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, supporting the global food and beverage leader's efforts to empower women in agriculture and help build a more sustainable food system. The goal of the project is to drive inclusivity across the food and beverage industry by demonstrating that actively engaging women as critical drivers of PepsiCo's sustainable sourcing strategy leads to better business results. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nAccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization, if women farmers had the same access to resources as their male counterparts, their food production would increase by up to 30% and help eliminate hunger for 150 million people. However, the lack of land rights, limited access to information, technology, and financing, and expectations of domestic work based on prevailing gender norms are barriers to achieving this reality. \nTo help address these challenges, USAID and PepsiCo will each invest an initial $5 million to jumpstart the program, which will support women-owned small- and medium-enterprises and women-led PepsiCo suppliers to improve the resiliency of rural farming communities in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. \n\"At USAID, we believe that investing in women is key to advancing a country along its journey to self-reliance. The full economic inclusion of half the world's population ultimately will contribute to greater peace and prosperity for all. However, we cannot do this important work without collaborating with the private sector. Through the W-GDP Fund, our partnership with PepsiCo will promote economic opportunities and leadership roles for women farmers,\" said USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa.\nThis partnership builds on the lessons learned from PepsiCo and USAID's recent project in West Bengal, which helps women lease land, as well as provides trainings on a broad range of topics including record keeping and pest control, the best irrigation and crop rotation techniques for their region, and the role of women in agric...