Semilla

Before structuring our work around today’s key focus areas, Danone Ecosystem developed pioneering initiatives. Among them, our Inclusive Distribution projects played a central role in empowering vulnerable populations and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurship. 

These early projects laid essential foundations for our current model: people and their communities are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to build truly sustainable initiatives by training and strengthening the capabilities of key professionals and the communities they serve. 

Mexico is a country marked by acute wealth inequality, a condition that disproportionately affects women. They face persistent barriers to accessing secure employment in the formal economy and are consequently overrepresented in informal work, where they are exposed to heightened socioeconomic risks, including labor insecurity and violence. In 2012, women represented just under 40% of the economically active population, reflecting their structural disadvantage within the labor market and limited access to stable income opportunities. 

Launched in 2010, with the support of the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Danone Mexico, and local partner Ashoka, the Semilla project created formal employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for underprivileged women in urban areas of Mexico. 

The project enables women to join door‑to‑door sales force, providing them with life skills training, sales training, start‑up equipment, and access to employment or entrepreneurial pathways. 

By supporting the development of formal economic activities, Semilla not only creates jobs but also empowers women, helping restore their self‑esteem, strengthen their autonomy, and expand access to education and income‑generating opportunities.