Lessons from the Aconcagua Partnership in Chile

Water is rapidly becoming one of the defining challenges for global food production. Increasing water scarcity is already affecting agricultural productivity, disrupting supply chains, and placing growing pressure on local communities, ecosystems, and international trade. Across many regions of the world, water is no longer a future concern but a present reality, limiting production and threatening the resilience of food systems. Climate change and increasing competition for water resources are further intensifying these pressures.

Chile illustrates this global challenge particularly well. After more than a decade of drought, water scarcity has become one of the main constraints to maintaining, let alone  expanding, agricultural production. Recently, representatives of the fruit export sector argued that access to markets is no longer the primary challenge; rather, it is securing sufficient water supply and the infrastructure and technologies needed to use it effectively. Producers also argue that despite its strategic importance for the country's competitiveness, water management has not always received the level of attention it deserves in the development and growth agenda.

While much attention has focused on improving water-use efficiency through new technologies, experience shows that technical solutions alone are no longer sufficient. Unlike many agricultural inputs, water is a shared resource. Decisions made by one user inevitably affect others, making collaboration not simply desirable but essential. This also shows the need to look at the catchment level instead of only at the farm level.

The Aconcagua Partnership: a new way of working

The Aconcagua Valley in central Chile illustrates the complexity of today's water challenges. Located in the Valparaíso Region—the fourth-largest fruit-growing region in Chile—the valley concentrates around 32,500 hectares of fruit plantations, approximately 72% of the region's total fruit-growing area. The valley is strongly oriented towards high-value crops such as avocados, citrus, table grapes, and cherries, much of which is linked to international markets. At the same time, the basin is under increasing pressure from water scarcity due to climate change and competing demands for water resources. Water governance across multiple users and interests has been weak and the catchment has experienced a persistent water deficit, making long-term water security a critical concern for human consumption, the productive sectors (agricultural production, mining, etc.), and the surrounding ecosystems.

Building this collaboration was not without challenges. When the initiative was first introduced, many viewed the growing sustainability expectations with concern. Some feared that new environmental requirements would make their businesses unviable.  Fortunately, over the past five years, that conversation has changed. Through dialogue and transparency, participants have come to recognize that addressing water scarcity and working towards a more water-balanced catchment cannot be achieved individually. The Partnership therefore provides a platform where producers, buyers, technical partners, and public institutions can jointly identify priorities, pilot solutions, and exchange knowledge. Rather than focusing on isolated interventions, it promotes coordinated action to improve water stewardship, restore the balance between water availability and demand, and build more resilient agricultural supply chains.

Changing the conversation

Three years after its creation (and five years after the initial steps towards a partnership), the Aconcagua Partnership has demonstrated that its greatest achievement is not simply a list of activities and projects, but a different way of working. By creating a space where all stakeholders in the value chain can collaborate over time, the Partnership is helping to build trust, create shared understanding of the basin's challenges, and develop shared solutions.

Perhaps its most important contribution has been changing the nature of the conversation. What was once largely perceived as a conflict between sustainability requirements and agricultural competitiveness has gradually evolved into a shared recognition that water scarcity is a common challenge requiring collective solutions, with biodiversity now understood as part of the solution. Increasingly, stakeholders recognize that both restoring the catchment's water balance and maintaining the competitiveness of its agricultural sector depend on working together.

Today, the Aconcagua Partnership not only brings together 15 farmers with 4,940 hectares of cultivated land producing avocados, citrus, table grapes, and cherries, and 10,640 hectares of conservation area, it also connects the local producers to the international value chain (including exporters, importers, supermarket chains, etc.). The Partnership is expected to keep on growing, both locally and internationally, as well as including a broader range of stakeholders.

Through knowledge exchange, participants are working to better understand their water footprint and embrace the principle of "measure to manage." While it is still too early to quantify the overall impact of the Partnership on water-use efficiency, there are already indications that increased awareness is influencing management decisions at farm level. One producer, for example, reported that before joining the Partnership he paid little attention to his water footprint, but participation in the initiative led him to adopt different measures to reduce it. Other growers have exchanged knowledge and introduced biological pest-control practices. Mapping conservation areas has also changed how farmers perceive the natural areas on their farms, revealing their environmental value and the contribution to the sustainability of agricultural production.

This growing awareness is also broadening the discussion beyond water efficiency towards the resilience of the agricultural landscape as a whole. One example is the development of a practical guide to regenerative agriculture, identifying practices that producers can implement to improve soil health, increase water retention, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen the resilience of their farms.

Looking ahead

The next phase of the Partnership will focus on translating shared knowledge into wider adoption and broader actions. During the coming year, growers will bring the regenerative agriculture guide into practice, developing a roadmap to improve their respective way of working and increase adoption of regenerative practices. This will help the Partnership to continue moving beyond planning and dialogue towards tangible improvements in water stewardship and landscape resilience.

The experience of the Aconcagua Partnership reminds us that collaboration cannot be measured only by hectares covered or projects implemented. One of its most important achievements has been creating the conditions for dialogue and trust among actors who had not traditionally worked together. While this change is less visible than new infrastructure or technological innovations, it represents a fundamental step towards more effective water governance.

The next challenge is to translate this shared commitment into broader participation, action, and measurable improvements in water stewardship across the catchment. Understanding how collaboration influences farming practices, water governance, and stakeholder engagement will help demonstrate impact, attract new partners (both locally and internationally), and continuously expand and improve the initiative.

The Aconcagua Partnership is an example of how the Netherlands can contribute to systemic market transformation through water resilience while strengthening sustainable trade relations and supporting an approach that could be replicated in other regions and countries facing similar challenges. More importantly, it shows that effective water stewardship depends as much on collaboration between people as it does on the adoption of better technologies. If successful, the Partnership will demonstrate that the path to water resilience begins not with technology but with the willingness to work together.