PepsiCo Partners to Deliver Safe Water: CWDF's Water Cellars for Mothers

At PepsiCo, we believe that a responsible business must act as a global citizen. The ability of a company to flourish long-term ultimately depends on the health of the communities of which it is a part and the natural resources on which it relies. The corporations that win in today’s competitive, resource-scarce and hyper-transparent world are those that create real value for society. 

China is a dynamic industrial engine and an emerging leader in the world economy. However, there is another China, full  of rural communities, often lacking basic infrastructure and competing for limited resources with its rapidly industrializing counterpart. Chinese society struggles with the growing pains of rapid growth and the needs of an enormous population still living in a world largely untouched by the benefits of China’s economic transformation.

Access to water for China’s rural poor has been a priority of the Chinese government since the 1980s. Working with government ministries, the China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF) launched a program called Water Cellars for Mothers in 2000.

Depending on the specific needs of a village, school or household, Water Cellars for Mothers brings access to safe water through rainwater harvesting or building centralized water supply systems in target communities in rural central and western China.

PepsiCo’s involvement with Water Cellars for Mothers began in 2001 with several grants supporting the project. In 2011, the PepsiCo Foundation awarded CWDF a $5 million grant, to establish more systemic support of Water Cellars. With the support of China’s Ministry of Water Resources, the PepsiCo Foundation grant is funding safe water access projects for people in rural villages and primary schools in eight provinces and municipalities, including Yunnan, Gansu, Guangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia

Learn more about PepsiCo's partnership with Water Cellars for Mothers on PepsiCo.com