fruit and veg on UK supermarket shelves is driving an environmental and human rights emergency in ICA, Peru
Anonymous female farm worker, living in ‘Tierra Prometida’ (the ‘Promised Land’) unplanned settlement
At this time of year with high temperatures, we need to buy 4 tanks or 5 tanks [of water] a month. And each tank costs us 20soles.
And, sometimes it’s not available. And sometimes we don’t know what kind of water they’re bringing us, we just have to get water from whichever tanker and that’s what we consume.
Many of the kids get sick with diarrea, vomiting. My daughter has many stomach problems, lots of vomiting. The kids are often sick and they get dehydrated. It’s all from the water they are consuming.
Here in Ica we lack water. I think it’s because all the water goes to the agroexporters [the farming businesses in Ica growing produce for export]. They’re the ones consuming it all. All year round they are exporting different kinds of fruits and here we have water scarcity because of that.
They [agro-exporters] use so much water there, the whole time they are watering, watering, watering.
I imagine a place that is full of life. Where we are not suffering for basic necessities, above all, the thing that is so necessary, water.
I imagine a different life, where nobody lacks water in their home.
production of fruit and vegetables for UK supermarkets is driving a water emergency in Ica, Peru- act now!
Our unfair water footprints are pushing people, ecosystems and economies into extreme vulnerability - Act now!
The Ica Valley in Peru, where many of our blueberries, grapes, asparagus, avocados and other fruit and vegetables come from, is facing a ‘do or die’ decade.
Production for supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose, and M&S, is driving grossly unsustainable patterns of water use, infringement of human rights and environmental degradation, with tens of thousands of farm workers living without access to safe water and sanitation. Wells are running dry, and water is becoming too saline to irrigate crops.
The case provides a tragic example of how our consumption patterns are driving unsustainable water use around the world.
But the water crisis in Ica is the tip of the iceberg of a wider water emergency in our global supply chains. In fact, 40% of the UK’s external ‘blue’ water footprint - the water used to produce the goods we rely on - is unsustainable, draining and polluting rivers and aquifers around the world.
Add your voice to help end the abuse of water in the production of the food, clothes and goods we buy. Sign the petition today!
Every signature counts: we’re going to need thousands of people adding their names to help us show governments, supermarkets, brands and financial institutions that their customers and citizens won’t stand for unfair water use, infringement of human rights and environmental degradation. Will you help us?
Read the full report:
voices from ica, Peru
Jose Arredondo: union organiser, 25 years as a field worker
What we are certain of is that the agriexporter companies need water to produce. What we don’t want is that they over-exploit the water. What cannot be allowed is that a company could sink wells indiscriminately and nobody says anything to them. That puts our population at risk. As the years pass there is not the same amount of water. We know that already. What we can pretty much already see happening, is that it is going to increase the cost of production.
If this continues the water table for all of Ica won’t have much more. What will happen with the investments in our sector? The investors will leave our sector. Gradually they’ll go somewhere with more available water. This will affect the work we have now. Even though our jobs are precarious, at least we have those. If this continues, its going to be that the investors will abandon the Ica valley, they’ll go to other areas that do have water.
What you cannot allow is for that product that you buy, that has been produced by people here- getting up very early, vulnerable, lacking rights- to be a product of the exploitation of those people. We should not allow that. As a buyer, I should say, hey- where does it come from? Where does it come from and who is working there? Why? Because we cannot permit that this product was achieved through abuse, [and] exploitation of people.
Elvio Martinez Bolivar: small farmer, growing avocados and blueberries
The actual problem here in the Ica valley, which affects most people who are small farmers, is the problem of water...
Previously, we would be watering our crops every day of the week. The flow we have now is very low, it’s not enough...The water table is not recharged, and this affects both water for human consumption and the water we need to use for our agriculture.
Many are saying that in Ica we’re experiencing the agro-exportation boom. Perfect. Let's talk about how Ica is one of the best places for agroexporting, but what do we do to protect small farmers- for us to continue to exist in this place?
Water for us is life! As much for human beings as for the crops.
When there is a shortage of water, our plants also face water stress. Our plantations start to die, it affects our production. So logically, if we make an investment but we don’t have production, we have losses.
We also have families to feed. And like all people, we small farmers also want to be able to give our children a good education.
We as humans need water. Without water there is no life, right?
Anonymous female farm worker
In the field, we don’t have adequate sanitary and hygiene provision.
When you go to the toilet, there is no paper, there is no water or soap for washing your hands. We use chemical products and we touch them with our hands, they don’t give us PPE [protective equipment]. Our hands are blue. As a woman- with those hands am I going to change my sanitary towel? That is our reality.
As women, we suffer constantly with urinary infections, infections of the kidneys, our abdominal area always hurts because we can’t use an adequate facility at the time when we need it. It is not close, or you get to it and it’s not fit for the use of a human being.
There are portable toilets that are putrefying for weeks. How can you go in, in that heat? In that heat the portable toilet is sitting with the waste of a week or two weeks- you cannot go in to those toilets.
All this means that we cannot use toilets, we hold in our needs and that’s how we get sick. We’re ill.
In countries that buy the fruits that they produce and export here from Peru: really investigate. See if they respect the rights of the workers who produce these fresh fruits- are they respecting our labour rights, are they treating workers with dignity?
what is a fair water footprint?
Get the full picture on Fair Water Footprints: what are they, why do they matter, and what can I do about it?
download your campaign toolkit
Everything you need to take action for fair water footprints- from template letters and social shares to ideas for community organising.
glasgow declaration
Find out how global companies, financial institutions and governments are working together for fair water footprints.