PepsiCo Foundation supports She Feeds the World to fight gender inequality

Gender inequality continues to be a far reaching social issue in the world. By supporting She Feeds the World, PepsiCo Foundation start to make a difference.

Beyond the glass ceiling, gender inequality is a worldwide, far reaching issue. While hot topics in the entertainment industry often focus on screen time representation, the foundation of feeding society, agriculture, has a detrimental gender gap. Through the program, She Feeds the World, by the global poverty-fighting organization CARE, the dramatic gap in the agricultural sector can become less pervasive.

In the United States, the agricultural industry has numerous issues. Globally, the agricultural industry suffers from tremendous gender inequality. The disparity is quite disturbing.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, women, who comprised almost half of “all agricultural labor in developing countries,” work more than men, often up to 13 hours more per week. But, those women farmers do not have the same access as men. If these women farmers had the same resources, they could increase yields and in turn help reduce hunger worldwide.

PepsiCo Foundation just announced an $18.2 million dollar grant to CARE. “CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty.” Specifically, this grant is targeted towards the She Feeds the World campaign, which will benefit 50 million female farmers in the developing world.

By supporting female farmers, the wide reaching impact should be enormous. By creating a solid structure to increase yield and productivity, the effect on both the women farmers and the world food community is great. More food produced, with the best methods, creates a better life for these women farmers as well as reduces the food scarcity across the world.

Efulazia Ticindimunda peels bananas in the Kigando Village in Uganda, where she’ll be joining CARE’s She Feeds the World program with the PepsiCo Foundation’s support Her community faces high rates of poverty and malnutrition and she hopes that participation in the program will help crease her crop yields and income so she can provide three meals a day for her eight children and send them to school. Photo by Josh Estey/CARE

As a leader in the food industry, PepsiCo Foundation is making a vital statement by supporting this initiative and organization. Without a strong agricultural market, PepsiCo cannot make its products. From snacks to beverages, PepsiCo relies on a strong farming community. Supporting the industry goes beyond the charitable aspect.

Additionally, it is important that this endeavor is female centric. In many cases, women are the main decision makers in households. From the woman farmer providing for her household to the mom making smart food choices for her family, women influence the every aspects of people’s lives. While change can start small, women coming together for the greater good can make a huge and systematic change.

Personally, like some other women, supporting companies who value women’s issues is important. Consumers might choose one product over another because of the values of the company behind it. PepsiCo Foundation’s choice to fund this program shows its commitment to support “women as champions of nutrition from farm to family.”

To raise awareness and to promote discussion on these issues, PepsiCo and CARE are launching “Closing the Crop Gap.” This platform gives women an opportunity to voice their own stories. Through short-form videos, these dedicated, hard-working farmers share their struggles, concerns and hopes.

As the public views these videos, the effect is two-fold. First, voting on the videos raises donations to kiva.org microloan. Second, just watching the videos can start the discussion, education and desire to make a change. Ignorance is never an excuse; knowledge promotes change.

Gender inequality isn’t just left to the boardroom, screen or legislature. That food on your table has a story, too. Support the women who deserve better because She Feeds the World with food, love and compassion.