Water Witness response to AGAP statement

Water Witness International response to AGAP Statement 4th November 2025: “Disinformation campaign seeks to destabilise the agricultural sector in Peru”

On the 4th November 2025, a statement was made by AGAP,  the Association of Agricultural Producers' Guilds of Peru (Asociación de Gremios Productores Agrarios del Perú) which made serious and unfounded accusations in relation to our 2024 report ‘How fair is our water footprint in Peru?’ and articles published by Salud con Lupa which draw upon its contents. 

This document sets out the facts in response to AGAP’s defamatory statements, in particular:

AGAP Statement:

‘The information used is from a report by NGO Water Witness, which has been objected to due to lack of technical rigour, and who seek to discredit Peruvian agro-exporters in international markets.’

Water Witness response:

·       The Water Witness[1] report referred to by AGAP, ‘How fair is our water footprint in Peru?’  is the most comprehensive analysis of the water challenges facing Ica to date. The study and the research behind it were originally requested by the Peruvian Government in 2022 to support delivery against its commitments within the COP26 Declaration for Fair Water Footprints.  As a founding Signatory to the Declaration, the Government of Peru has formally and publicly committed to ensure that water use within its key export sectors is sustainable, equitable and resilient to climate change by 2030.

·       The study objectives were therefore to provide an understanding of the water situation in Ica - the nations primary hub for agro-export production, long-known to face rapid rates of groundwater decline - to assess the effectiveness of current management efforts, and to generate recommendations which would help to protect the economic benefits of the agro-export industry into the future.  The study was funded via a grant from the Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation.

·       The report findings, conclusions and recommendations are based on detailed research, analysis and verification over a two-and-a-half-year period.  They draw on data from government authorities, including the National Water Authority (ANA) and a 25-year record of groundwater levels across 20 monitoring boreholes, scientific studies by leading experts published in peer-reviewed journals, institutional analyses by the OECD and ANA itself, field observations and modelling data.  To validate this evidence the research team interviewed and met with 79 individuals from 35 organisations representing a balance of agro-exporters, government agencies, academics, civil society organisations and local community members.  The draft report was shared with the 91 organisations mentioned in the report who were each invited to identify and correct any inaccurate information. The final published report was corrected based on feedback from 22 of these organisations.

·       The evidence and conclusions presented in the report can be considered robust and reliable, with independent evaluation of the work labelling it as ‘rigorous’ and, a ‘tour de force’[2].  Dr Enrique Fernández Escalante of the University of Madrid, a leading scholar of Peru’s groundwater, with 34 years of experience called the study ‘outstanding’.  Dr Stephen Foster, one of the world’s most pre-eminent hydrogeologists, an expert in Peru’s groundwater, previous Director of the British Geological Survey, and lead of the World Bank-Groundwater Management Team said in October 2024:

‘As the new Water Witness report states clearly, there is unequivocal evidence of rapid over-exploitation of the Ica-Villacuri Aquifer to meet the irrigation demand of export agriculture over the past 20 years.  While managed recharge needs to be maximised, the only route to long-term sustainability is a major reduction in groundwater pumping through closure of illegal water-wells, and controlled use of legal water-wells. Otherwise the consequences for all will be very negative.’

·       AGAP claims that the report seeks to ‘discredit Peruvian agro-exporters in international markets’ and that the report is ‘against the Peruvian agro-export sector’ are simply false.  Rather, the report provides an objective understanding of the problems facing the sector, its stakeholders and local communities, and sets out constructive action that can be taken to improve the situation, to rebalance the aquifer, close the gap in access to water supply and sanitation for the people of Ica, and protect the future economic productivity of the aquifer for the benefit of all Peruvians into the future. 

·       The report has been welcomed by many growers and stakeholders since it highlights that without urgent action to remedy the water problems of Ica, the agro-export sector, and the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people are in significant jeopardy.

·       The few parties that have been critical of the report have been invited on several occasions to provide data or alternative evidence to back up their concerns, but none have been forthcoming. 

·       Furthermore, as the authors of the report, we have worked with all stakeholders including AGAP and its members to establish a Taskforce hosted by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to address the issues it raises.  One priority agreed by this group is to establish an independent ‘observatory’ to improve data access, and to resolve any outstanding concerns regarding the evidence. Water Witness stands ready to support these efforts.

AGAP Statement:

‘It is false that products of agro-export like blueberries and grapes affect the availability of water in the Ica valley. It is the lack of water infrastructure, the high levels of informality and the lack of investment by the state.’

Water Witness response:

·       Our report clearly states that there are multiple factors which are driving the unsustainable and inequitable patterns of water use in the Ica Valley.  These include limited investment in water infrastructure and services for the many thousands of people working in the agro-export sector, many of whom live in informal settlements. However, these factors also include the decline and degradation of the Ica-Villacuri aquifer which is the result of uncontrolled abstraction of groundwater for agro-export production, well in excess of the sustainable yield of the aquifer.  Our report provides multiple sources of evidence which show this to be the reality, including testimony of water regulators and farmers themselves – many of whom are alarmed at the rate of water table decline, and the rapid salinisation of the groundwater.

AGAP Statement:

‘It is false that the use of groundwater by the formal sector affects the access to water of small-scale farmers. There is no evidence or studies that back up the affirmation that the wells are running dry. The real problem is informal abstraction and lack of infrastructure.’

Water Witness response:

·       Our research draws on multiple sources of evidence to clearly show that over-abstraction of groundwater for irrigation use in Ica’s agro-export sector – through both legal ‘permitted’ use and unregulated, illegal use - has caused drying of wells and severe access challenges for both large and small-scale farmers.  This includes the monitoring records of the National Water Authority, and the direct testimony of farmers and municipal water managers. 

We are dismayed by AGAP’s unfounded accusations of ‘successive campaigns of discrediting and disinforming’ by researchers, NGOs and civil society entities whose primary motives have been, to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth, attainment of human rights, and decent living conditions for the people of Ica into the future. 

We are particularly alarmed that such an esteemed and venerable organisation as AGAP is attempting to smear the legitimate activities and high-quality work of credible and respected scientists and journalists and that it is urging punitive action against those who represent the interests of vulnerable people and communities in need.  This does a disservice to their members and is the polar opposite of the constructive approach that is urgently needed to secure a sustainable future for Peru’s agro-export sector.

Water Witness stands ready to support all stakeholders to make progress towards improved water governance in Peru and globally, to support a vibrant economy and shared prosperity, alongside good health and wellbeing for all. 

[1] Water Witness International is a British charity which is regulated under UK law to ensure delivery against its charitable objectives: to promote sustainable development through equitable and effective management of water resources for the benefit of the public, protection of the environment, the relief of poverty and the promotion of sustainable means of achieving economic growth. It has worked globally to deliver these goals since 2008 by undertaking high quality research which is respected for its rigour, accuracy, and constructive outcomes, with financial support from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and elsewhere.

[2] Remarks made by Greg Koch, ex-water sustainability lead at the Coca Cola Company, and associates at the Water Security Collective