Coca-Cola - The Surprising Water Steward
Welcome back! Reflecting on my blog entries so far, I have explored how women have been disproportionally affected by the lack of readily available water resources. As a follow up to that, I aim to look at one of the largest initiatives by Coca-Cola that have been implemented to lessen the burden women have to face. In exploring this, I aim to interrogate their successes especially in female participation, whilst ultimately concluding that neo-colonial forms of development can be problematic.
RAIN (Replenish Africa Initiative) by Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the largest private employers in Africa and has set out to replenish Africa through community-specific initiatives to improve WaSH and other water infrastructures. I ask myself, why would Coca-Cola want to improve wash facilities for women in Africa – aren’t they a massive corporation with other things to worry about? – well, I’ll get to that. They have successfully been able to invest almost $30 million to implement initiatives that have provided increased access to water sources. This has included the advancements of water infrastructures which have significantly reduced the need for distant water collection for women and have provided safe and reachable latrine environments and affordable sanitation facilities in 41 countries, mostly led by intentionally incorporating women in the community and allowing them to take lead. In doing so, this has significantly reduced the burden and inequality women have faced as we know from the last few entries, that a lack of water and sanitation breeds period poverty, gender-based violence and educational absenteeism in women.
For example in South Africa, alongside providing sanitation facilities to rural women, they have also been leading initiatives and working on clearing out invasive species which in turn will increase the water efficiency of the region. In this, water resources are appropriately managed, and women are able to make a living. This in turn reduces their susceptibility to the impacts from a lack of WaSH services mentioned in the previous entries. Thus, empowering women through providing job security who can manage these water sources, helps to eradicate gender equality.
“Women now spend less time collecting water and can dedicate more time to their family, education, or income-generating activities,”
Although...
Framing Africa as a problem warrants intervention made by corporations like these. While they can be effective in abiding by SDG 5 and 6 and progressively reducing gender inequalities, it is easy to assume that these initiatives are there to solve the problem. Initiatives like this do not fray too far away from their corporate and capitalist routes and can be for monetary gain for Coca-Cola itself. Coca-Cola employs local people in urban localities and has around 3,000 distribution centres across the continent which have created profits along the supply chain. The irony in this is that some people struggle to access basic amenities like water and food yet are always in the vicinity of a coca-cola product, ‘even a cold one’.
“Supporting initiatives that promote access to water for women and girls is a building block for community health with a ripple effect on social and economic empowerment. This is a win-win for everyone.”
…Yeah, a win for women who have access to water and empowerment opportunities which is great, and a win for your pockets too!
While Coca Cola may be rooted in their monetary gain in Africa, is it right for this to continue if development is achieved and is significantly eradicating gender inequalities across the continent?
All of the progress Coca Cola has made with RAIN has been great, although countries in Africa should not have to rely on neo-colonialist initiatives from corporations like these. It would be more beneficial if the state and local governments had the funds and ability to take initiative like this, to ensure a reduction in the leakage of benefits, but this is not always feasible. Though, one thing we can take from this is that a lot of their initiatives are rooted in providing women with the necessary skills and knowledge to take leadership. Engaging women in participation has proven to be effective in this initiative, thus begging the question, is women participation the way forward? I will be exploring this notion and its effectiveness in government both locally and nationally in my next entry.
Hi Chloe, this was a very interesting read, and brought to light the potentially problematic issues associated with these kinds of initiatives. Do you see this initiative as a way of Coca Cola balancing its water footprint, especially after it has been blamed for dehydrating developing communities across Mexico and India, and creating water shortages? It's difficult to see Coca Cola in a positive light, especially as it is worsening water scarcity issues in one area, yet is actively pursuing to improve WASH in another.
ReplyDeleteHey Greta! Thanks for your comment! I completely agree with you - when I was doing my research for this blog I came across an interesting article that critiqued coca-colas water usage in other countries like you mentioned. They claim to be 'water neutral' which means they put back as much water as they use - this is far from the truth though. This method of deceptive marketing to make themselves appear in a better light has masked the fact that barely half of the water they use is returned in these other countries. Their services in Africa could therefore serve 2 roles - to balance their water footprint as you mentioned, but also to improve public perception.
DeleteHi Chloe! I loved this case study example of Coca Cola. It is very ironic that Coca Cola are setting up initiatives to tackle the water crisis in Africa while also having caused extreme water shortages in India. It is evident that their main incentive for the RAIN incentive is monetary gains, and I think you have depicted this very well in your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteHey Arzoo! Really appreciate this comment! I also think this is incredibly ironic - they cause havoc with water shortages in India, yet want to tackle the water crisis in Africa.
DeleteChloe this is a fantastic and very creative idea on focusing on Coca-Cola. Often we do not realise the impacts that multinational organisations can have on local water access and quality. It is interesting to see how development can occur at this level and the gendered effects of this. Economic prosperity can often be the answer to freedoms and choices in the Neo-liberal way that we live. Do you think that jobs can break cycles of poverty?
ReplyDeleteHey Wiktoria! Thanks for your comment! You've asked an interesting question - providing jobs can certainly break cycles of poverty, but it is not all so straight forward. Cultural norms can stand in the way stopping women from engaging in job prospects, meaning that while jobs can empower women and aid the development of these communities, in reality this cannot be implemented for all women.
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