PepsiCo aims to eliminate at least 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions across its entire 7-million-acre agricultural footprint, including in Egypt, by 2030.
The move comes after PepsiCo Global had announced on Tuesday the launch of a new impact-driven initiative that aims to spread regenerative farming practices across 7 million acres, approximately equal to its entire agricultural footprint. The initiative came amid the global increasing attention towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The company estimates the initiative to eliminate at least 3 million tons of GHG by the end of the decade.
Over the past years, PepsiCo Egypt reiterated its commitment to positively impacting Egypt’s farming communities and has developed various programmes in this regard.
This included the development of the second largest agriculture programme under PepsiCo Global’s system, producing 400,000 tonnes of potatoes yearly which are 100 percent cultivated by Egyptian farmers.
PepsiCo Egypt also worked on an advanced seeds programme, now 65 percent of its seeds are produced locally, and it plans to reach 80 percent by 2024.
The company has two main agricultural programmes. They are ‘She Feeds the World’ and ‘Chipsy –USAID’, which aim to deliver sustainable growth of potato farming and assist smallholder farmers in Egypt to increase crop quality and yields, achieve self-sufficiency, and increase access to the resources they need — including land, seeds, and water.
PepsiCo Egypt also renewed its partnership with the USAID for the second year in a row, and over the next three years, they will expand the programme’s activities to farmers in three governorates and plan to reach 2,500 farmers.
For She Feeds the World, which gives a special focus on women empowerment and integrating them into the agricultural value chain, the programme aims to reach 390,000 beneficiaries in 3 years, with total investments of 60 million Egyptian pounds ($3.8 million).
“Agriculture has always been at the heart of our snacks business. Over the past 70 years, developing the agricultural sector has been and will continue to be on top of our priorities, being a core asset to the food industries sector and a major and vibrant component of the Egyptian economy”, Mohamed Shelbaya, PepsiCo Egypt chief executive, said.
The company is targeting creating a sustainable agriculture system to increase food production in a reliable manner, ensure food security, and improve livelihoods in rural areas to complement the Egyptian government’s moves in the field of sustainable development, Shelbaya added.
