PepsiCo announces a US$216 million multi-year investment in long-term, strategic partnership agreements with three of well-respected farmer-facing organisations: Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) and the IL Corn Growers Association (ICGA) to drive adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across the US. The combined impact of the three strategic partnerships is hoped to support the accelerated uptake of regenerative practices on more than three million acres.
PepsiCO will work alongside these organisations to establish and scale financial, agronomic and social programs that enable the transition to regenerative agricultural practices through education, upfront investment in outcomes, peer coaching and networking, and cost-sharing.
Driven by PepsiCo Positive (pep+), the company’s strategic, end-to-end business transformation, PepsiCo’s strategic investment in PFI, SWOF and ICGA is essential to supporting the US farming community as it makes changes that aim to secure production volumes and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
“As the climate crisis continues to escalate, the threat to our food system increases as well,” said Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo. “It’s critically important to partner, for the long term, with organizations that have earned the trust of farmers as they make the transition to adopt climate-smart agriculture practices. We intend to be shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers as they work to make soil healthier, sequester carbon, improve watershed health and biodiversity, and improve their livelihoods.”
Through the partnerships by 2030, PepsiCo will work with PFI to reach approximately 1.5 million acres, SWOF to reach nearly 1 million acres and the ICGA to reach approximately 600,00 acres.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with PepsiCo and farmers in its supply chain to support the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices that have measurable impacts on soil health, the environment, and farm sustainability,” added Adam Kiel, Managing Director of the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund. “By providing high-quality and customized agronomic assistance to farmers implementing new practices we help them reduce emissions and nutrient loss, unlock a new revenue stream, and increase the value of their farmland for current and future generations.”
“Farmers in Illinois want to make the best decisions for the resources in their care. They are invested in protecting and preserving their farms to pass something on to the next generation that is better than what they received. Sometimes, the heavy risk of new conservation practices gets in the way, but PepsiCo’s partnership helps to lessen some of the risk involved for farmers to try a new practice and that will make a big difference,” said Dirk Rice, Philo, IL Farmer Leader of ICGA.
A resilient food system is essential to PepsiCo’s business, the company said, and its ability to meet pep+ targets while driving the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 million acres, a figure the company has said is approximately the size of its agricultural footprint by 2030.
Read more latest industry news and developments in our free to download magazine.
Never miss a story… Follow us on:
International Bakery
@int_bakery
@Bakeryint
Media contact
Caitlin Gittins
Editor, International Bakery
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920
Email: editor@in-bakery.com
