Watch Robert ter Kuile, senior director of environmental sustainability of PepsiCo, talk about how PepsiCo is approaching the farming process to feed the next billion people : 

WATCH: How PepsiCo Is Meeting the Needs of the #NextBillion  

“Globally we’re partnering directly with our farmers so we can increase productivity, reduce water consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it’s also about growing local products” in Ethiopia, Mexico, and other countries, ter Kuile said. “Those local relationships – the ability to wok with the farmers to bring about those real changes – are absolutely critical.”

PepsiCo has global growing programs to have the best potato, oats and citrus crops in those geographical regions. It also has a commitment to reduce food waste, which, ter Kuile said, “is a huge problem as you’re looking to expand food production globally.”

WATCH: Pepsi Encourages People to Live For Now

Feeding an estimated population of eight billion people by 2030 will require new and creative thinking from companies like PepsiCo about the foods we eat and how we produce them. PepsiCo is committed to water conservation as it is a key ingredient for the company’s agricultural production and manufacturing operations around the world. To produce PepsiCo foods, the company relies on tools and methods that promote sustainable agriculture and simultaneously drive our business efficiency. For example, PepsiCo’s i-Crop™ tool in the U.K. and the direct seeding approach used on rice crops in India have both resulted in major reductions of water use at farms from which the company sources its crops.

To find out more about how PepsiCo is meeting the needs of its next billion customers, click here or follow the company on Twitter @PepsiCo and check out the hashtag #nextbillion to follow the conversation.

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