In Kenya, where 200,000 subsistence farmers support more than a million people a year on just $1 per day of income each, SC Johnson also has a project that targets the base of the pyramid.
This effort, described in more detail in the “Economic Value” section of this publication, page 19, focuses on pyrethrum, or “py,” a cash crop for these Kenyan farmers and the country’s fifth-largest export crop.
Py is an active ingredient that can be used in insecticides and is used by SC Johnson in Raid® and Baygon® insect control products.
Because of weather and other issues, the supply of pyrethrum became sporadic in the 1990s and prices fluctuated significantly. As a result, SC Johnson has not had a reliable source of py, and the farmers have suffered as their income has been unreliable.
Bringing base of the pyramid thinking to this issue, SC Johnson began exploring ways to reduce the price of py and stabilize the supply. We knew this would facilitate increased purchases of the ingredient, which would support our growth strategies.
At the same time, the increased income would positively affect the lives of py growers and their families. Our efforts in this area, in which we are helping to bring affordable irrigation to py farmers, already are having a significant positive effect.