About the Crop Gap
Women farmers play a critical role in global food production and represent 43% of agriculture labor in developing countries.[1] Yet female farmers in many parts of the world may work more hours than men, are less likely to hold land titles, and have less access than men to the financial credit to buy key inputs like fertilizers, quality seeds and machinery. They are also less likely to have received education, training and other forms of support.[2] If women farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30% – and potentially reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 100-150 million.[3]
How This Campaign Contributes to Change
Through Closing the Crop Gap, we seek to raise awareness of the shared challenges the food system faces with respect to gender equality, and aim to create a dialogue with the goal of advancing gender equality in global agriculture. As one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, and an advocate for a more sustainable food system, PepsiCo is contributing to the discussion and action that is directed to real solutions.
Female farmers not only face specific challenges to play a full and equitable role in global agriculture, but the immense contribution to food production that they still manage to make is often underestimated. Through the Closing the Crop Gap campaign, PepsiCo aims to raise the profile of women in agriculture and give them a platform to tell their own stories in their own voice, and to use this as an impetus to build new momentum and new partnerships to advance gender equity in global agriculture.