The average age of a farmer globally sits at roughly 58 years, and the pipeline behind that generation is thin: just 11% of farm managers in Europe are under 40, and only 9% of US producers are under 35. Those figures frame the succession problem now confronting food companies whose supply chains depend on a stable base of growers.

PepsiCo, which sources more than 50 crops and ingredients from more than 60 countries, is treating the generational transition as both a social and a supply-chain risk. Monica Bauer, senior vice president of social impact at PepsiCo, laid out the company's approach in a recent interview with AgFunderNews.

"There is no single solution to agriculture's generational transition," Bauer said. "The barriers facing a beginning farmer in North America may be very different from those facing a smallholder farmer in a Latin America or an emerging agricultural enterprise in South Africa."

Three barriers, one strategy

Bauer identified three connected problems that recur across regions regardless of local conditions. The first is economic: access to land, capital, equipment and infrastructure, plus the ability to run a business that can absorb rising costs, climate pressures and market volatility. The second is skills and pathways — the next generation needs technical, business and leadership training along with exposure to the range of careers across the food and agriculture system. The third is the surrounding ecosystem: mentors, peers, buyers and markets, but also communities where families can access nutritious food, education and economic opportunity.

"If the broader community is not able to thrive, it becomes much harder to attract and retain the next generation," Bauer said.

That diagnosis shapes a portfolio of programs rather than a single template. In Europe, Future Harvest provides learning opportunities, mentoring, peer exchange and practical farm experiences for next-generation farmers. In the US, Field to Future offers scholarships, mentorship, professional development and potential paid internships within PepsiCo's agriculture supply chain. In South Africa, the Kgodiso Development Fund combines business support with inclusive funding and improved market access for emerging agricultural enterprises.

The financing mix varies by market. "Education, mentorship and leadership development are important, but in some markets [farmers] need funding support, access to finance, practical experience or commercial access," Bauer said. "The mix depends on the local barriers each program is designed to address."

Selection is managed at the program level, with PepsiCo working alongside organizations that have expertise in farmer development, education and community engagement to identify participants based on local requirements.

Supply-chain stakes

The business case is direct. PepsiCo depends on continued production across its sourcing regions, and Bauer was blunt about the long-term exposure: "The future of the food system is at risk long term if people do not see a viable future in farming and agriculture, or if the communities around them lack the access and opportunities families need to stay and thrive."

She also acknowledged the limits of any single company's reach. "No single organization can address this challenge alone," she said. "Progress depends on collaboration among farmers, businesses, non-governmental organizations, educators, researchers and local communities."

Early results

The most concrete success story so far comes from Mexico, where the Agrovita program supported the formation of "Los PAPIs" — the first rural cooperative created through the initiative. The cooperative connected smallholder plantain farmers to formal markets and eventually supplied plantains used in NatuChips, demonstrating what happens when farmer development is paired with durable market access.

In the US, Field to Future participants have gained exposure to agricultural careers through mentorship, networking, leadership development and industry experiences, and several have gone on to employment with PepsiCo after completing the program.

PepsiCo has not disclosed program budgets, participant counts or completion rates, making it difficult to gauge scale against the size of the demographic gap. The company's framing rests on qualitative outcomes — placements, cooperative formation, market linkages — rather than harvested results.

On challenges, Bauer returned to the structural point: skills training alone cannot fix limited access to land, finance, markets or infrastructure, and those barriers compound one another and differ by geography. "Meaningful progress requires long-term collaboration and locally relevant solutions," she said. PepsiCo's next test will be whether localized programs can scale fast enough to offset a retiring generation of growers across its 60-plus sourcing countries.