Pepsico's Project Expands: "Women Feeding the World"

PepsiCo , one of the world's largest food and beverage companies , continues its work under Positive Agriculture, one of the three key pillars of its end-to-end sustainability transformation strategy PepsiCo Positive (pep+), with various projects.

In this context , the "Women Feeding the World" project, implemented in Turkey with the support of the PepsiCo Foundation and in collaboration with CARE Turkey, has been providing support to farmers and producers in Adana for almost two years.

A total of 450 women farmers and producers received grants as part of the project. Thousands of farmers and producers benefited from the project through training in sustainable agriculture techniques, digital marketing, and communication techniques.

The number of women supported in the project exceeded 12

Expressing that the results obtained from the “Women Feeding the World Project” are promising for a sustainable future, PepsiCo Turkey General Manager Ergün Günay said , “At PepsiCo, we believe in the necessity of creating resilient agricultural ecosystems to support the creation of a sustainable value chain from field to table. With this awareness, we are carrying out many studies within our own organization and we are collaborating with expert organizations in the field to increase the impact we will create. With this understanding, through the “Women Feeding the World Project,” which we implemented with the support of the PepsiCo Foundation and in cooperation with CARE Turkey, we have reached more than 12,000 women in nearly two years and supported the social and economic development of the region after the earthquake. As a company that supports women in all areas of life, we have had the opportunity to closely observe the contribution that women make in agriculture, especially in small-scale production, through the projects we have carried out in Turkey and different countries of the world. We have always been a company that believes in cooperation and the high synergy brought about by stakeholder participation. In this project, in addition to CARE, we collaborated with the Adana Governorship, the Yüreğir and Ceyhan District Governorships, and the Adana Provincial and District Directorates of Agriculture and Forestry.” "We have made significant progress in cooperation with the Directorate, Adana Metropolitan Municipality, and Yüreğir Municipality. Especially in the first half of this year, with the support given to our project by Meryem Women's Cooperative, the 'Women Feeding the World Project' gained great momentum. I hope that this project, which contributes to the creation of a more resilient food system by increasing women's access to the land, will inspire everyone for a better future and sustainable life," he said.

Women produced on 3 different demo farms

As part of the project, CARE launched its first demo farm in the Ceyhan district in October 2024, focusing on broccoli and potato cultivation with a group of 26 women farmers. In January 2025, CARE launched its second demo farm in the Yüreğir district, focusing on potato cultivation on an approximately 18-acre site, with 86 women producers. Yüreğir Municipality also supported this demo farm, established in partnership with the Meryem Women's Cooperative. At the end of February, a third demo farm, focusing on corn cultivation, was established in Ceyhan with 57 women farmers. To date, a total of 169 women have produced on three different demo farms.

Free organic fertilizer was distributed to more than 4 farmers

The project also implemented numerous collaborative infrastructure improvements. The first of these initiatives, the upgrade of the composting facility in Yüreğir, has been successfully completed and is now operating at full capacity. Supported by the Yüreğir Municipality, this facility has played a critical role in strengthening sustainable agricultural practices in the region by providing free fertilizer to local farmers. Furthermore, the electrical infrastructure upgrade at the Yüreğir composting facility has now been upgraded, making it more equipped to serve farmers effectively. Organic fertilizer produced from waste fruit and vegetables collected from the market has been distributed free of charge to more than 4.300 farmers to date.

Mobile Seed Bus is ready to hit the road

Final preparations are underway for the Mobile Seed Bus project, a secondary initiative of Women Feeding the World. Once operational, the Mobile Seed Bus will serve as a mobile resource center that promotes the use of heirloom seeds, enhances biodiversity, and provides educational support, particularly for women farmers with limited mobility.

Men in the kitchen for nutritious meals

As a secondary objective of the project, numerous initiatives were undertaken to increase access to and consumption of nutritious foods in households and communities. The initiative, carried out by Community Health Volunteers (TSG) in the Yüreğir and Ceyhan districts of Adana to raise nutrition awareness, aims to reach 5,000 farmers directly and 25,000 people, including their families. As part of this initiative, the distribution of nutrition information, education, and communication materials was carried out with the support of the Yüreğir Municipality. Approximately 4,000 people were reached through this activity. The "Men in the Kitchen" program, part of the same organization, featured men enjoying themselves in the kitchen, learning recipes, and preparing meals for their families, all while promoting positive changes in social norms. The event, held in the Yüreğir Municipality's professional kitchen, featured a chef and nutritionist who guided participants in preparing meals and serving them to their wives. A short informational session on healthy eating was also held as part of CARE's global Farmer Field and Business School training package.

The program has been implemented in eight countries to date.

The PepsiCo Foundation has been partnering with CARE, an organization fighting global poverty, on the Women Feeding the World program since 2018, and Türkiye is the program's eighth implementing country.

The "Women Feeding the World" project, carried out in Adana, one of the provinces affected by the earthquake, aims to create a safe food network in rural areas by supporting small-scale women farmers and producers.

Source: HORECA Trend and Pepsico