PepsiCo will launch a partnership on Tuesday with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Matt Damon, the Hollywood actor, to bring clean water to communities in Africa, China, India and Brazil.

The announcement is being made on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos as an example of the event’s theme of “collaborative innovation”. It will see the US soft drinks and snacks group inject management expertise and $8m (€5.5m, £4.1m) in cash into two long-term water projects.