Widespread deforestation and water theft in the states of Michoacán and Jalisco are very serious problems that have materialized due to avocado cultivation
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Michoacán. – Widespread deforestation and water theft in the states of Michoacán and Jalisco are very serious problems that have materialized due to the cultivation of avocados that are used for export to the United States, Europe and other important markets.
On Tuesday, November 28, Climate Rights International (CRI) published a 250-page report and a companion video linking large importers and supermarkets in the United States to this environmental destruction.
The report documents that both Mexican and U.S. authorities, which are responsible for regulating and facilitating exports, are failing to take basic steps to halt the devastation, despite making climate change commitments to end global deforestation.
“Any avocado that comes from Mexico may have been grown on illegally deforested land, using stolen water, in a region where violence and intimidation against environmental defenders are recorded,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Climate Rights International
Mexico is the world’s largest producer and exporter of avocados, supplying four out of every five avocados consumed in the United States, with exports worth $3 billion a year.
CRI obtained and analyzed unpublished maps of the more than 50,000 avocado orchards that in January 2023 were certified by Mexican and U.S. authorities for export to the United States. The analysis identified avocado orchards certified for export to the United States that contained deforested land in 49 of the 56 municipalities in Michoacán and Jalisco that export to the United States.
The report documents — with 75 illustrative examples — that in 2022, U.S. companies Calavo Growers, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Mission Produce and West Pak Avocado, and Mexico’s Aztecavo, sourced avocados grown in orchards where there were deforested soils. In turn, those companies distributed avocados of Mexican origin to major supermarket chains, including Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Whole Foods.
The report presents evidence linking avocado production to deforestation and wildfires, which Mexican authorities say were among the central causes of a 2019 flash flood that killed five people in San Gabriel, Jalisco.
Indigenous, Purépecha and other resident communities have mobilized to defend the forests, but their efforts have been thwarted by violence and intimidation, which they attribute in many cases to organized crime groups that have a strong presence in the region and maintain multiple ties to sectors of the avocado industry.
Alejandro Méndez, Michoacán’s Secretary of the Environment, has pointed out that: “the most delicate, most serious environmental issue that we have [en el estado] it is the indiscriminate change of land use for avocado cultivation.”
However, authorities generally fail to enforce environmental laws in avocado-producing regions. A major cause is corruption, especially in the Michoacán State Attorney General’s Office unit, where a senior official used the phrase “corruption ball” to refer to practices that lead to deforestation related to avocado cultivation in Michoacán being investigated and criminally prosecuted at the state level.
Mexico, the United States, and more than 100 countries have pledged to end deforestation as part of their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but this goal is not being met, in part because deforestation is not eliminated from agricultural supply chains and indigenous communities and others trying to defend forests are not protected Threatened.
