The Avocado Rush and its Consequential Deforestation
In recent years, avocados have become a staple in our diet for their delicious flavor and numerous health benefits. Consumption of avocados has doubled in the past decade and consequently their prices have drastically risen-so much so that they cost as much as the minimum wage of the country they are indigenous to, Mexico. Equally known there as “green gold”, the financial viability of avocado production has even piqued the interest of organized crime groups akin to “conflict materials”. However, this surge in demand for avocados presents numerous negative repercussions to Mexico’s ecological terrains.
30–40% of recent deforestation in Michoacán, the largest producer of avocados in Mexico, has been driven by expansion in avocado cultivation. Between 2001 and 2010, Michoacán has tripled their production to compete with exports increasing tenfold. This has eventually led to a loss of 17% of land in the region. A study covering 10 municipalities has shown that 40% of forests have been lost across Mexico’s highlands between 1990 and 2006, creating long term problems for communities and further hurdles for biodiversity. According to biologist Alejandra Macias, Michoacán has already lost half of its natural vegetation due to conversion to avocados.
The soil has also been drastically transformed as a result of excessive avocado harvest. Apart from erosion, there is presence of soil compaction, due to a variety of reasons. The nature of growing avocados is such that it requires a significant use of motorized vehicles and laborers involved in weeding, pruning, and agrochemical application. The pressure on the soil to conform to the needs of the plant harden top soil, that results in water run off in times of moderate rainfall, leading to floods and immense infrastructure and economic damage. The Salsipuedes River in Jalisco has overflowed 3 times in the past, a cause of multiple deaths. Excessive soil degradation has also been identified to lead to a a reduction of water reserves. This has been supported by various studies, which show a flow decrease in the springs of Barranca del Cupatitizio and Pico de Tancítaro National Parks. As one of the most water stressed countries in the world, the expansion of a water intensive plant such as avocado will only worsen Mexico’s water woes.
Avocados require a great deal of water compared to other produce. Approximately 9.5 billion liters of water is used daily in Michoacán to produce avocado, placing immense stress on its aquifer.Although it has not been confirmed whether it is the prime culprit for drought in the region, it doesn’t do anything to alleviate the situation in Michoacán, which contains the largest number of municipalities facing drought. Nearly 70% of Michoacán’s municipalities face drought, and perhaps cultivating a large portion of its land towards the water intensive avocado, is therefore not ideal. Such pressure on aquifers provides trickle down effects to other communities by hindering water from filtering down to other aquifers in other areas. Apart from drought, the massive extraction of water due to avocados has also stirred seismic movements. In Uruapan, a crucial avocado-producing region, between 5 January to 15 February 2020, 3,247 seismic movements were recorded caused by the opening of subsoil caverns for water extraction.
Apart from contributing to the depletion of water bodies, avocado cultivation also presents a risk to aquatic ecosystems. Their requirements of a substantial use of fertilizer can be a threat with regards to the contamination of water bodies. This is of particular concern for the Cupatitzio river and Uruapan aquifer, both of which are in close proximity to avocado orchards and are also principal sources of fresh water for residents and wildlife in the area. Similarly, as avocados are prone to insects, heavy use of pesticides is common. Recent studies have found that they are now traveling into natural water reserves and consequently creating health difficulties for residents.
Despite the harmful effects of excessive cultivation, avocado’s expansion in Mexico is not going to slow down any time soon. There are various economic incentives behind producing avocados. After tomatoes, it is the second highest agricultural earner in Mexico. Within a decade, the production value per hectare of avocado trees has jumped 4 times, with a value of $7,000. In a country where nearly half the population earns in the agricultural sector, these are valuable figures. Along with paying 12 times the Mexican minimum wage, avocado orchards generate an enormous number of jobs from farming operations to harvest to packing house operations, transportation and finally, in marketing. There are 21,511 producers of avocados in Mexico (Michoacán alone houses 10,000 of them), and 14 processing facilities for varied final products, ranging from guacamole to non-refined oil. In total, this amounts to 47,000 direct jobs, 70,000 seasonal jobs, and 187,000 permanent jobs. The avocado industry is expected to increase nearly 5% year on year between 2020 and 2025, and so there is only scope for a corresponding widening of the avocado industry in Mexico.
While state action has been taken to preserve and restore ecological diversity, it has been relatively inadequate in containing the spout of avocado orchards. A crucial implementation is the Payment for Ecosystem Services scheme (PES), which pays farmers for not using their land if it provides ecological value. Its aim is to conserve, protect and restore the natural environment while also promoting forestry management. Farmers or landowners are usually paid through tax credit or credit instruments. The PES has significantly reduced deforestation across Mexico, however its implementation has been largely ineffective in many regions including Michoacán, where the benefits of producing avocados outweigh those received from the PES. Similarly, a study by Barsimantov and Kendall found that common property allowed for forest preservation only when the forest already had economically greater benefits than alternative actions, hence supporting that decisions affecting use of land are determined by their opportunity costs. Rather than compensation based on the market value of the land, it would be more effective to then pay landowners based on the opportunity costs they forfeit by preserving the ecological system or by producing a crop that complements and is more agreeable to the soil and environment of their land. Clearly, this tends to vary by region and a universal standard payment will thus be ineffective. Similarly, other initiatives could be introduced to promote crops and agriculture that promotes biodiversity in order to neutralize the premium from avocado production and diversify livelihoods for rural communities.
Additionally, a case study done in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán in 2006, highlighted the importance of community level forest management programs. They found that communities with such programs had lower deforestation than communities that didn’t and which consequently underwent significant deforestation. This was explained to be in part due to the presence of a “functional local governance” structure in communities with forestry management programs. Besides a more effective structure, forestry management programs also aided in the maintenance of soil vegetation and biodiversity, encompassing efficient land use.
Perhaps, the creation of local forestry management organizations that can assist in land use and preservation, including assessing and henceforth providing adequate economic incentives to the local community would be a good starting point in curbing the currently alarming levels of deforestation in Mexico. We have already witnessed the recent distressing effects of palm oil expansion in Borneo to species, such as the orangutans, that inhabit it. It is all the more alarming that the unmanageable growth of avocado production in Mexico is following a similar trajectory. Clearly, a lot of economic incentives underly this surge in avocado production, and it is not just Mexico that is affected, but many other countries that find climactic viability for avocados, are beginning to experience a similar phenomenon. However, the consequences of such expansion of avocado production can be devastating in the long-term for ecological preservation and diversity, not to mention the future risks it presents to local communities.
