Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality, Land Rights, and Agricultural Engagement in the PepsiCo Potato Supply Chain in West Bengal

The partnership aims to increase adoption of sustainable farming practices, performance of PepsiCo Key Performance Indicators, and women's income and agency. Investing in women's empowerment is shown to make social and economic sense. The partnership is implemented by the Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) program, which is a collaboration between USAID's Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Division and the Land and Resource Governance Division. This initiative is the foundation for USAID's Global Development Alliance with PepsiCo, which aims to scale women's economic empowerment throughout PepsiCo's agricultural supply chains worldwide. In the first year (2019-2020), 400 women in 48 women's groups received training in potato agronomy, with 48% being women from PepsiCo farming families. This training increased women's self-confidence and recognition by their families. Women's groups were also recognized as a valuable source of agronomy knowledge, and women were recruited and trained as Field Agronomists and Community Agronomists to provide field support to farming families. The partnership also enabled women's groups to enter the PepsiCo supply chain through an innovative land leasing program. Additionally, 32 local PepsiCo staff and 4 partner staff were trained on gender and women's roles in agriculture. Training modules on potato cultivation, sustainable farming practices, gender-based violence, and changing gender norms were developed and adapted for use across PepsiCo's supply chain in India. The partnership aims to increase household income and agency among women in the PepsiCo potato supply chain in West Bengal. The initiative is expected to contribute to the improvement of women's economic empowerment and equality in the region.