Sustainable farming practices: Over 1 billion litres of water conserved in 2017 by PepsiCo's agriculture teams: report

The agriculture and operational teams of an international beverage manufacturing company helped conserve over 1 billion liters of water in 2017 through sustainable farming practices in Pakistan and taking measures to promote use of alternative energy. PepsiCo International Tuesday released its 2017 Sustainability Report, outlining progress the company has made towards its sustainability philosophy called 'Performance with Purpose'.
According to the detail issued by the company as per report released on Tuesday, Performance with Purpose is PepsiCo's vision to deliver top-tier financial performance by improving the products the company sells, operating responsibly to protect the planet and empowering people around the world.
PepsiCo has taken steps, globally, to embed these goals in their business and has made significant progress towards achieving them. Most notably, in 2017, 27.5 percent of the company's net revenue came from their Everyday Nutrition portfolio. Approximately 16 million people were provided access to safe water since 2006 and 6.4 million women and girls benefited in communities around the world near where the company works.
In Pakistan, PepsiCo considers sustainability to be at the heart of its operations. PepsiCo Pakistan's agriculture and operations teams helped conserve over 1 billion liters of water in 2017 through sustainable farming practices. This number is expected to double by the end of 2018. Similarly, wastewater and air emissions have consistently met stringent standards. The use of alternative energy will expand from the current capacity of 40KW to 370KW by the end of 2018.
The report said that improving water efficiency in direct manufacturing operations is important and company's goal to achieve Positive Water Impact by 2025 includes aiming to improve water-use efficiency in our direct agricultural supply chain in high-water-risk areas.
In any watershed, particularly those in areas that experience water scarcity; good water stewardship requires collaboration between the businesses, farmers, local communities and governments that together rely on the same local source.
The company believes that it is only through this approach that the needs of all local users and the natural environment can be met in a sustainable way, the report said.
On the human development front, PepsiCo became the first multinational in Pakistan to sign the Women Empowerment Principles. At their snacks manufacturing facility, PepsiCo has increased front line female talent workforce by threefold. The company has also continued their mission of empowering young girls, by mentoring hundreds of female students at Care Foundation-adopted schools, the report added.