SC Johnson continues to progress various projects that aim to improve social equity and promote public health. As an example, in Kenya, where 200,000 pyrethrum farmers each earn less than $1 per day while supporting more than a million people each year, SC Johnson has an ongoing program that targets the base of the pyramid.

Pyrethrum, or “py,” is Kenya’s fifth-largest export and an active ingredient used in pest control products like Raid® and Baygon® brand insecticides. Weather and other issues made the supply of py sporadic in the 1990s, meaning SCJ didn’t have a reliable source of the ingredient, and the farmers suffered as their income became unreliable.

SCJ has worked with the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya for three decades to help build capacity to stabilize our supply and bring more reliability to farmers. Several years ago, we brought further base of the pyramid strategy to the challenge, through a partnership with KickStart.

KickStart is a non-government organization that develops new technologies and works with local entrepreneurs to launch businesses with them.

SCJ provided financing for KickStart to market to py farmers a simple water pump operated manually to provide groundwater to crops. Previously only about 12 percent of farmers irrigated, so this added capability can have a significant impact on crop yield.

As an added incentive to farmers — and to enable future economic value for SC Johnson — the company’s Kenya business supplies a can of Raid® or Baygon® insecticide with every pump sold. This establishes our brands in the minds of consumers who, thanks to the pump, will soon enter the middle class and have more disposable income.

In addition, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya supplies pyrethrum seeds with every pump sold. More than 10,000 farmers have now had an opportunity to learn about the pumps, hundreds have been sold and more given away through promotional activities. As a result of widespread use of the pumps, we anticipate py production per acre will increase, meaning SC Johnson can continue to use natural py rather than switching to a synthetic replacement.

At the same time, py farmers will see a boost in household income that will enable improved nutrition, health and education for their families.

Current efforts in South Africa and Ghana to educate about malaria similarly focus on creating value with base of the pyramid consumers.