PepsiCo India and USAID collaborates to empower women farmers in West Bengal

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 10 March 2022

In celebration of International Women's Day 2022, PepsiCo. India has been working to empower women farmers in the country. Women make up over 42% of the agricultural labour force in India, according to statistics given by the University of Maryland and NCAER in 2018, but own less than 2% of farmland. Indian women usually work on the farm as much as their husbands, preparing fields, planting seeds, harvesting crops, and maintaining animals. Aggregating, sorting, grading, processing, packing, and selling are all part of the agricultural value chain where crops are transformed into goods. Men do the majority of the work.

We've been advocating for a more sustainable agriculture system that includes women farmers for many years. PepsiCo teamed with USAID two years ago to develop the 'Women Empowerment Initiative,' a very unique initiative that has received a positive reaction, particularly in the potato farming sector. This initiative has so far trained over 1000 women in potato production in the state of West Bengal, and it continues to deliver gender awareness training to PepsiCo India employees.

To enhance the adoption of sustainable farming practises (SFPs) and improve women's livelihoods, the collaboration is enhancing their access to land, skills, jobs, and entrepreneurial opportunities.

We have a few hero stories of women beneficiaries from West Bengal who have defied stereotypes and made a significant difference in their communities as a result of this development.

Anita Singh, a woman farmer from Kotulpur in the Bankura district of West Bengal, works with her husband in all aspects of farming. This inspiring woman farmer gained a lot of knowledge through PepsiCo and USAID's agronomy training on potato production in 2020-21.

Sujata Pramanik is a West Bengal woman farmer who lives in Chandra. In 2020-21, she worked as a Community Agronomist in Barasat as part of the ILRG Project. During the agronomy course in 2019-20, this deserving woman farmer learned a great deal.