Phillipine Mtikitiki, Vice-President of Coca-Cola’s South Africa franchise
Empowering women has a ripple effect that reverberates throughout society, changing it for the better. This, according to Vice-President of Coca-Cola’s South Africa franchise Phillipine Mtikitiki, is why the company set out in 2010 to empower five million women. By 2020, six million women had benefited from their various programmes — one million of them on the African continent.
The 2022 theme for International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on 8 March, was Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow and encompasses two aspects about the business that Mtikitiki is incredibly passionate about — environmental responsibility and the empowerment of women and girls in the communities that Coca-Cola operates in.
“This is especially important in South Africa, and on the continent,” she says, and is why the company focuses on replenishing and sustaining water resources and on moving towards a world without waste. “We have been on this journey with communities for a long time, and in the past it was important; as we move forward, however, it is more important now than ever before,” says Mtikitiki.
Sustainability cannot just be another buzzword in the annual report: “It’s a way of doing business, yes, but it must be a deliberate part of our plans and ingrained in our DNA. It cannot be a stand-alone initiative, because every part of the value chain must be sustainable and impact positively in the communities we find ourselves in.”
Restoring South Africa’s wetlands
One of the biggest threats to water sustainability, both in South Africa and on the continent, is the presence of invasive plant species in the water system. “These alien plants have no natural predators, and they really suck the water straight out of the ground, which results in less water in circulation.”
For this reason Coca-Cola has partnered with local communities and invested in the clearing of more than 3 400 hectares of invasive species in South Africa’s water systems. “This is a vital part of our 2030 strategy, and an element that we will continue to prioritise in Southern Africa, because this is one way to protect the aquifers, and the water systems as a whole.”
Water, she says, is an important ingredient in the Coca-Cola products, and a key resource in operations. “It is therefore imperative that we become part of the solution and invest to make sure that we have a sustainable, long-term water supply; within our operations there is a focus on innovation and efficiency improvement on the water that we use, and we work hard to reduce, reuse and replenish water.” The company also works to increase the availability and access to quality water in the communities it operates in.
Mtikitiki says success in this regard is measurable: “Our ambition is to replenish the equivalent of 100% of the water we use in our beverages; so for every drop of water that goes into our beverages, we want to replenish an equal amount in the communities in which we operate.”
When it comes to the environment, it is vital that women and girls are empowered to participate in sustainability initiatives. In Africa, the burden of water collection often falls on women and young girls. “We know that in communities without ready access to water, it is the mothers and young daughters who have the duty to go and find and collect this much-needed resource.”
Empower women to empower communities
Mtikitiki, who was appointed VP of Coca-Cola’s South Africa franchise in January 2021 after 22 years with the company, grew up in Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit) in Mpumalanga. She says her views, beliefs and aspirations were shaped by the four strong women who raised her. Her mother and three aunts farmed, and her elderly aunt is still active in the agriculture space today.
Her mother was also instrumental in protecting her from the gender imbalances so many young women often face in the home — she was often assigned tasks in the garden while her brother helped with other household chores such as washing and cleaning. “I was never told that there was anything I could not do because I was a girl; it was only when I grew older that I realised that not every household was like ours.”
Mtikitiki says she also noticed that every cent her mother earned went towards her and her siblings; she only bought her first car when her last daughter had graduated with a medical degree.
This, she says, drives her passion: “That is why I am so convinced that this is the way to go. Through all the research that has been done, we know that the empowerment of communities follows when we empower the women; everyone benefits, especially children, the youth, and even generations still to come. Having lived in most parts of Africa, I have seen how these inequalities disproportionately affect young girls, often even impacting on their ability to attend school. Therefore empowerment in terms of roles and resources is super-critical for the long-term sustainability of a healthy society.”
Women play an important role in the upbringing and upkeep of families, and remain disproportionately impacted by issues such as poverty and the impact of climate change. When there is a more equal balance of power, both in communities and within companies, the entire system is healthier and more resilient. Women have historically always been community farmers, so empowering them in agriculture is not enabling them to step into a new role, but rather helping them reclaim a space that was traditionally always theirs. “If you look at Africa, the majority of the people driving agriculture within their communities are women.”
Coca-Cola has focused programmes that benefit the women in its value chain: “We have local sourcing initiatives, and we help women farmers by bringing in the best engineers to help train them and shape their operations. Once the training is done, continuity access is key, so we ensure that once sustainable agriculture is achieved these women work with us all the time — we buy our products directly from them.”
Mtikitiki says sustainability and empowerment are more than just a corporate vision: “It is a strategy that guides the way we act and the things we do. As a company, we work everyday to fulfil our purpose: to refresh the world and make a difference.”