Aconcagua Catchment

WAVE Aconcagua Partnership

WAVE Aconcagua (2025 - 2028) is the first project under the WAVE Partnership.

The Aconcagua Valley is one of Chile’s most important agricultural regions, supplying high-quality avocado, citrus, cherries, and other fruits to the UK and EU markets. However, since 2010, Chile has experienced extended droughts that, along with unsustainable water extraction for agriculture and other sectors, have contributed to an increasingly negative water balance.

In response to these challenges, the Aconcagua Partnership was created, connecting retailers, importers, exporters, farmers, and government bodies around a shared goal: restoring the balance in the catchment.

Our Strategy

A shift from farm-level action to catchment-level stewardship

Our Vision

A catchment in balance where water inflows, outflows, and storage are sustainably managed to support healthy, biodiverse ecosystems and enhance livelihoods.

Our Mission

The partnership strives to lower the water gap and contribute to a catchment in balance.

Our Goals

More sustainable, regenerative, water-resilient farming practices
Stronger enabling environments
More resilient supply chains

Farm Level

The partnership collaborates with the Aconcagua Network to enable climate- and water-resilient production of avocados and other crops.

The Aconcagua Network represents fourteen farmers managing over 3,700 hectares of agricultural land in the catchment area.

At this level, we focus on creating more sustainable, regenerative, water-resilient farming practices by:

Understanding current state water use and agricultural practices
Accelerating the adoption of more sustainable, water-resilient practices

Learn more about our work in Chile

Supply Chain Level

The Partnership connects with buyers to create scalable, sustainable sourcing practices, and risk mitigation.

Supply chain partners include Nature’s Pride, Salling Group, Westfalia Fruit, and Dole Food Company.

At this level, we focus on building more resilient supply chains by:

Enhancing access to farm and catchment level data
Building consensus on sustainable sourcing principles
Developing reporting and communications approaches

Enabling Environment Level

The Partnership provides a structural space for dialogue, knowledge exchange and advocacy.

We work closely with key governmental and institutional actors — including Chile’s National Water Authority (DGA), the Ministry of Environment, CORFO, Frutas de Chile, and ProChile — to foster collaboration.

At this level, we focus on creating a stronger enabling environment by:

Fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration
Driving advocacy efforts on sustainable water management

Enabling Environment - Embassy Group Photo

Wins of WAVE Aconcagua

Key achievements to date:

Completing water footprint baseline assessments, moving to a better understanding of the farm-level water footprint and water gap
Creating structural dialogue between farmers and the Water Management Authority and Ministry of Public Works where there was none before
Participating in a new catchment-level multi-stakeholder platform, Mesa Hídrica, representing the combined group of farmers, retailers, and importers
Hiring a Country Director who:
- 1) carries out local governance among farmers
- 2) leads structural dialogue with government
- 3) supports local ownership and a long-term locally-owned strategy and program
Fostering knowledge exchange on irrigation, conservation, and innovation amongst farmers to reduce water use and build climate resilience
Building awareness among farmers on the connection between the health of their farms and the state of the Aconcagua catchment
Strengthening Dutch leadership on water and food security in Chile via its embassy in Santiago and the Partners for Water program
Driving a mindset shift among retailers and importers from certification-only towards dedicated, long-term commitment to a sourcing area
Co-developing a shared data monitoring & sourcing principles framework

Aconcagua