PepsiCo today announced the third year of its global agriculture program, the Positive Agriculture Outcomes (PAO) Accelerator, by backing eight new innovation projects across nine countries, including Romania. PepsiCo’s continued investment aims to address some of the most urgent challenges facing agriculture today, while moving the company’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) agenda forward.
PepsiCo’s PAO Accelerator offers local farming communities co-investment to accelerate diverse and results-driven Positive Agriculture projects, as well as funding for ag-tech start-ups that offer proven products or technology with the potential to scale. This year’s innovations will build resiliency through climate related analysis, improve soil health, and strengthen farms’ climate resilience – engaging farmers in Australia, Colombia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.[1]
“We can’t motivate systemic change on our own, and our PAO Accelerator continues to provide a forum for farming communities to bring forth ideas and opportunities, and receive the funding needed to get promising innovation off the ground,” said Margaret Henry, Vice President, Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture at PepsiCo. “With this latest round of projects, we’re not only fostering this powerful network of innovators across global farmland, but growing closer to achieving a more regenerative future, with farmers’ insight at the forefront.”
Among the roster of 2023 projects, will be a project with Australian grain growers to test and validate soil health management practices to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions on-farm. In Colombia, funding will support increasing potato crop quality and yield by installing sprinkler irrigation systems that will also reduce water use. And, in collaboration with 3Keel, a UK-based landscape innovation firm, funding will help connect Europe-based organizations interested in supporting regenerative solutions with local farmland managers who can deliver measurable, sustainable outcomes.
“Investing in pioneering agriculture projects is a key action in combatting the evolving climate crisis and setting farmers around the world, up for long-term success,” shared Tom Curtis, Director, 3Keel Group Ltd. “Support from PepsiCo’s PAO Accelerator will powerfully enable our team to work with local farmers across Europe to further broker the partnerships needed to accelerate climate action on the ground to strengthen agricultural supply chains for the long-term.”
Since its launch in 2021, the PAO Accelerator has supported diverse projects – from adopting efficient irrigation systems in response to increased drought, developing kilns to turn agricultural waste into fertilizer, improving soil health, and more.
“Speaking from experience, prioritizing and investing in climate-smart innovation can uncover solutions for our entire global agricultural supply chain,” said Chris Seymour, Seymour Farms, Canada, and 2022 PAO Accelerator funding recipient. “With support from PepsiCo’s PAO Accelerator, my team gained new insights that helped improved soil health and profitability for my business, even as weather conditions became more unpredictable over time.”
[1] 2023 projects as follows:
| PROJECT NAME | COUNTRY | PROJECT DESCRIPTION |
| Cool Soil Initiative | Australia |
Extending PepsiCo’s Cool Soil Initiative to support West Australia’s oat sourcing region – testing and validating sustainable practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions on-farm, improve sustainability, yield, and profitability. |
| Improved soil health with new cover crops | Colombia |
Identifying how cover crops can improve soil erosion, soil fertility and fixation of nitrogen, to help reduce emissions and improve biodiversity. |
| Sprinkler irrigation system installation | Colombia |
Improving farmers’ yields by increasing the amount of viable planting areas on farms and water reduction efforts by introducing low-pressure, sprinkler irrigation systems. |
| Precision fertilizer use | India |
Driving adoption of precision fertilizers to improve soil health and support potential greenhouse gas emissions reduction within the market’s potato supply chain. |
| Water availability analysis |
Iraq |
Conducting a water availability study to map current risks and build an action plan for 2030 building resiliency to the potato supply chain |
| Guidance for smallholder farms transitioning to sustainable sourcing | Egypt | Introducing new ways of working to benefit local smallholder farmers and enable 100% sustainable sourcing for direct potato and corn by 2030. |
| “Weather Station” installation | Pakistan |
Improving grower resilience and timely decisions by deploying “weather station” technology on-site to deliver more accurate data to strengthen farming operations. |
| Accelerating regenerative agriculture practices by building our partners capabilities | Romania, Poland, UK |
In collaboration with 3Keel, a UK-based landscape innovation firm, funding will help connect Europe based organizations interested in supporting regenerative solutions with local farmland managers who can deliver measurable, sustainable outcomes. |