Superfoods and the environment - Avocados and blueberries from South America — DW Documentary

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Avocados - delicious, simple and packed with nutrients. They're good for you, but are they as good for the environment? [00:00:17] Speaker 2: If people realised that poor Chileans have to live without water because of avocados, then Europeans would have to stop importing avocados. [00:00:29] Speaker 1: Many Chileans are angry because of water scarcity. [00:00:38] Speaker 3: How is it possible that there's enough water for hundreds of hectares of avocado monocultures, when so many of the local communities are lacking water? [00:00:50] Speaker 1: Another fruit also raises similar concerns. There's still enough water to go around in Peru, but blueberry plantations are popping up at a staggering pace. [00:01:05] Speaker 4: We need to plant more and bigger blueberry fields to reach the next level and be more competitive with exports and to become an international player. To do so, we need water infrastructure projects. [00:01:19] Speaker 1: Tunnels are being built to divert glacial water for the plantations. But resistance is also growing. [00:01:28] Speaker 2: everybody knows that the privatisation of water has led to more inequality in our country. I still have hope that we will soon have better, fair water legislation. But as it is, water activists keep receiving death threats. [00:01:46] Speaker 5: many countries that exist are latent. [00:01:47] Speaker ?: many countries that exist, are latent. [00:01:47] Speaker 5: Many countries that exist, are latent. [00:01:48] Speaker ?: Many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:11] Speaker 1: many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:15] Speaker ?: many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:24] Speaker 1: many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:29] Speaker ?: many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:30] Speaker 1: many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:44] Speaker 5: many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. many countries that exist, are latent. [00:02:49] Speaker 1: today's meeting is all about access, to drinking water for this community, in the Patoca region. water for residents here, has been rationed for years, with the flow, limited to a few hours a day. as governor, Rodrigo wants to improve, the infrastructure for drinking water, to bring about change. [00:03:12] Speaker 2: it's important for residents to organize, and stand up for their rights. and I'm here to support this social movement, and to help with the transformation. those who have up until now, been among the powerless and the have-nots, are beginning to take the reins, in the administrations and institutions, for the benefit of the poor. [00:03:37] Speaker 1: Rodrigo spearheaded a social movement, for the right to water until 2021. he's long known that there's a lack of clean drinking water, water in the region, or that it's been contaminated by waste water, from large corporations. [00:03:51] Speaker 6: our ground water is undrinkable, [00:03:55] Speaker 7: some people don't even want to use it for washing, but the water company keeps charging high prices for it nonetheless, as if it were perfectly fine. [00:04:03] Speaker 1: Many residents are becoming desperate. Help us, please. [00:04:11] Speaker 3: We are more than 150 families. [00:04:15] Speaker 8: Please do something. [00:04:18] Speaker 1: Many residents depend on water trucks for their survival. [00:04:24] Speaker 8: Hopefully water will be for the people in the future, and not first and foremost for the avocado growers and their ilk. We currently have to use jars to wash, and then we recycle the waste water into tubs, so that we have something to water our gardens with. [00:04:49] Speaker 1: It's not our first visit to the Patoca region. We met with a group including Rodrigo Mundaca in 2017 in search of the avocado, a super food grown here on a large scale. and which keeps causing water shortages for many people in the region. [00:05:13] Speaker 7: Yummy. In Chile, we eat avocados for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and prepare them in a lot of different ways. It's a noble fruit. [00:05:26] Speaker 2: And that's what turned it into the green gold. [00:05:33] Speaker 1: Avocado has also become trendy among foodies and chefs. And it's become popular on social media, further increasing the global demand. [00:05:50] Speaker 9: It's a very versatile fruit, but at the same time it stands for a bit of health. It stands for almost new school food. [00:06:02] Speaker 1: In 2017, we wanted to know: how is the avocado boom affecting people in the regions where it's grown? What price are they paying for this rising global demand? Ricardo Sanguesa is an experienced small farmer in Patoca. And this is his irrigation canal. [00:06:27] Speaker 2: The canal's water used to come from the adjacent La Liga. The canal's water used to come from the adjacent La Liga. The canal's water used to come from the adjacent La Liga. [00:06:31] Speaker 1: The canal's water used to come from the adjacent La Liga. [00:06:32] Speaker ?: La Liga. [00:06:34] Speaker 1: It was the source of Ricardo's livelihood for decades. [00:06:39] Speaker 7: The canal has been out of water for six years. We small farmers used it for irrigation. But now, it doesn't exist anymore. Sadly. [00:06:54] Speaker 1: The canal's water used to come from the adjacent La Liga river. As Ricardo walks through the dried-up riverbed with Rodrigo and Mundaca, they reminisce about what it was like when the river ran through here. Before, it became a garbage dump. [00:07:41] Speaker 7: It hurts to see. It makes me feel powerless and disillusioned. I'm also angry at people who don't want to fight back. We live in an individualist society, where people don't care about these kinds of problems until the day they hit them in the face. [00:07:56] Speaker 10: It really makes me sad. [00:08:00] Speaker 1: For many years, Rodrigo Mundaca was the leader of the Moda Tima citizens' movement, fighting to protect drinking water. [00:08:08] Speaker 2: I remember this river as a place of fun and recreation. We used to come down here a lot in the summer. It truly pains me to see it like this. It makes me furious. [00:08:34] Speaker 1: In Petorca, many bridges have lost their purpose. But the water hasn't disappeared. It's been diverted to the neighbouring avocado plantations, where thousands of hectares of the water-intensive fruit are being grown for exportation to more lucrative markets abroad. Many people in the surrounding area now have to get their water from tanker trucks at the taxpayers' expense. Even those who were small farmers all their lives and had enough water, like Zoyla Quiros. Only my cacti are still alive. And those need very little water. Until a few years ago, Zoyla's pride and joy grew right behind her house. [00:09:37] Speaker 11: Down there is where my avocado trees used to be, about 300 of them. [00:09:47] Speaker 3: But they all shriveled up. I also had plums, apricots, apples and loquats. But there wasn't a drop left to water them with, so they all perished. [00:09:59] Speaker 11: My old well completely dried up. [00:10:06] Speaker 3: Eventually, everything just got parched and died. [00:10:10] Speaker 1: But a lush avocado orchard is flourishing next to Zoyla's property. Rodrigo says a businessman bought the expansive property to grow avocados. [00:10:29] Speaker 3: The neighbour is too powerful. He pumps the groundwater up from very deep. [00:10:38] Speaker 2: There are at least 40 to 50 hectares of ripe avocados here. [00:10:42] Speaker ?: Yes. [00:10:43] Speaker 2: Countless kilos ready to be picked. [00:10:47] Speaker 3: He's already harvesting. [00:10:50] Speaker 1: 80 kilometres away in the neighbouring province of Yele, the verdict is still out in another fight for water. This time flowing from a glacial spring. Yele is home to the Schmidt family's fruit empire. Here too, agriculture has exploded since the early days of the avocado boom in the 90s. Refugees from Haiti do most of the work, since the working conditions and pay are unattractive to most Chileans. Mattias Schmidt personally supervises the manual harvest. He's one of Chile's largest avocado exporters. How does he and his marketing representative see the water shortage in Vitorca? [00:11:52] Speaker 12: Well, I don't know to what extent people actually lack water. [00:11:59] Speaker 2: But maybe the state should build more plants to turn river water into drinking water for its residents. But the business owners also invest money and want to take advantage of the water rights they've bought. [00:12:13] Speaker 13: So it's tricky. But the producers are always concerned about having enough water left over. [00:12:23] Speaker 4: If only because they save money by using as little water as possible per plantation and per tree. [00:12:33] Speaker 13: But saving water has its limits too. [00:12:44] Speaker 1: The avocado is a thirsty fruit. It takes up to a thousand litres of water to grow a single kilo. Eight times more than what's needed for potatoes. Producers, therefore, have to build big water basins to meet the superfoods' water demand at the height of summer. [00:13:04] Speaker 12: This is our pumping station. [00:13:14] Speaker 2: We use it to pump groundwater up to the hills. The highest slopes offer the best climate for the avocados. They grow bigger and ripen faster up there. But we have to spend a bit more on electricity for the pumps. We use the water. [00:13:29] Speaker 1: Matias has to drill to depths of up to 120 metres to find enough groundwater for the tropical fruit. It's a huge effort but necessary for growing avocados on such a grand scale in this climate. And their cultivation is now an important pillar in the Chilean economy. But critics complain that the water sorely needed for people in Chile is being shipped to Europe in the form of avocados. And in special refrigerated containers, creating an even bigger ecological footprint. And that's not all of it. Since customers are used to finding avocados ready to eat in the supermarket, the green, unripe avocados are ripened in huge temperature chambers where humidity and heat are simulated, leaving nothing to chance. The ripe avocados then end up in kitchens like this one in Amsterdam. The avocado show is one of the world's first restaurants fully dedicated to the fruit it's named after. Here you'll find carefully designed and presented dishes with avocado burgers, salads and toasts. Made for young consumers who know exactly what they want. [00:15:02] Speaker 14: We both are very health conscious and we know that avocados are really good for you. Well, I mean, it's filled with healthy fats, which are good for you. It tastes really good. It's got like a lime avocado on top. And there's just avocado through all of the pancakes. Berries inside the pancakes as well. It's really, really nice. Really sweet. Really nice. [00:15:28] Speaker 1: But the drought in Chile continues. And although the Patoca region has always been dry, the recent extreme lack of rain and glacial meltwater led the government to declare a water emergency during the summer months. But the commercial avocado production continues unabated. And Rodrigo Mundaca, an agricultural scientist by trade, keeps fighting for the people's right to drinking water. [00:16:10] Speaker 2: When a river dries up, it throws the whole ecosystem out of whack. Without evaporation, clouds no longer form and it rains even less. [00:16:27] Speaker 5: It's obvious that the water cycle here has been disrupted by the big avocado producers. [00:16:37] Speaker 2: And this damage to the ecosystem is completely irreversible. [00:16:49] Speaker 1: It's one of the days when small farmers grew beans, corn and potatoes. Now avocado monocultures dominate the landscape. For many years, Rodrigo and his comrades fought against this transformation. Veronica Wilches heads a non-profit neighborhood cooperative. She's in charge of a well that serves a thousand residents, located right next to one of the large plantations. Veronica complains that she's constantly receiving threats and accused of stealing water. [00:17:31] Speaker 15: We face massive pressure, also from the authorities. [00:17:35] Speaker 8: We are threatened and discriminated against because we resisted when they tried to force us to give our water to a private company. But our water is for the people, for the community and the poor people. That's what the law says. [00:17:56] Speaker 1: The waste water from the bathroom and kitchen ends up here. Water for the last plants Veronica has left. She used to make milk and cheese. But now the only thing that remains are the lemons, which she keeps growing. Almost as an act of defiance. [00:18:16] Speaker 8: I have hoped that one day we will be better off after all. That one day a politician, a president of the Republic who is not corrupt, will change the Chilean constitution. That's the real problem. Water must be a common good and should belong to everyone. [00:18:40] Speaker 1: Rodrigo has never stopped being public about his criticism. a Chilean news report shows him confronting officials at one of the many crisis summits. Local residents complaining about the lack of water as well as the power of the avocado producers have become a recurring event in the summers, when the drought is at its worst. For years they were few in numbers and their roadblocks swiftly broken up by the police. Their cause received little attention from the Chilean authorities and Rodrigo was seen as nothing but a troublemaker. Someone who was only out to disrupt the avocado industry. But that all changed in 2019, when 1.5 million people gathered in the capital, Santiago, to protest for social justice and the right to water. It was Chile's largest demonstration in 30 years, or since the end of the dictatorship. The police brutally cracked down on protesters who resisted in the beginning. But the mass demonstrations eventually altered Chile's political map. [00:20:11] Speaker 2: The protests motivated many ordinary citizens to seek political office for the first time, because they wanted to address certain causes. And probably one of the most relevant causes is the problem with the privatisation of water in Chile, and how to change that. [00:20:34] Speaker 1: The protests sparked a process of political reform in Chile, in which activists like Rodrigo also got involved. A constitutional convention was tasked with writing a new constitution for the country. Several activists for the fundamental right to water became elected officials, such as Ivana Olivares. She was completely ecstatic about her unexpected election in 2021. Ivana campaigned heavily in the weeks before the election, hoping to play a role in replacing a constitution that dates back to the country's military dictatorship. [00:21:28] Speaker 3: We ordinary citizens are the best people to write this new constitution, because we know what day-to-day life is really like in Chile. And we know that the state doesn't protect the rights we should be guaranteed. [00:21:43] Speaker 1: Like Rodrigo, Ivana doesn't think Chile's water should be privately owned. She wants to abolish the exclusive water rights that have been handed to big avocado farms. She wants the dried-up riverbeds next to the lush green avocado groves to become a thing of the past. [00:22:00] Speaker 3: In light of the droughts and climate crisis, the new constitution must place some limits on economic activities. [00:22:11] Speaker 1: But it's not easy to abolish private water rights overnight. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship created a powerful agricultural industry that grew accustomed to hoarding any water for its own purposes. Rodrigo and his comrades told us back in 2017 that the water hasn't actually gone anywhere, it's just not available to the people who need it the most. The water is where the green gold is grown, courtesy of the Chilean state. People need to understand that the state is paying three quarters of the costs of these basins. [00:23:02] Speaker 2: The enterprise only pays one quarter. The question is this: why is the state subsidizing contractors to build these basins filled with the same drinking water that the people further down lack for survival? [00:23:29] Speaker 1: Rodrigo was awarded the international Nuremberg Human Rights Award in 2019 for his efforts and, as the jury noted, for his remarkable courage in the fight for the fundamental right to water in Chile. [00:23:46] Speaker ?: Rodrigo was awarded the international record. [00:23:49] Speaker 1: It was a kind of recognition he had never before received in Chile. [00:23:53] Speaker 5: Encouraged, he decided to run for office in 2021. [00:23:59] Speaker 1: And he surprised everyone by decisively winning in the first round to become governor of the Valparaiso region. His official residence is in the historic port city of the same name, Chile's gateway to the world. Rodrigo is now considered the region's top politician, with numerous duties. [00:24:25] Speaker 5: But in centralised Chile, his actual political power is often limited. [00:24:32] Speaker 2: As governor, I'm only the coordinator of the regional government. I have the power to introduce bills and I can speed up or slow down certain projects. I'll also have to draft an environmental policy for this region, because that still doesn't exist. [00:24:53] Speaker 1: Despite his landslide victory, Rodrigo barely controls five percent of the regional budget. Without greater budgetary control, he has only a limited ability to launch new projects, especially when it comes to water runs. [00:25:15] Speaker 2: It's very frustrating. I have no power as far as water legislation is concerned, nor when it comes to housing, health or education. I also have no say in agriculture. I only have direct influence over some aid funds. [00:25:37] Speaker 1: He hasn't yet been able to initiate any real change in the distribution of water. And for the time being, nothing will change in Petorca when it comes to the cultivation of avocados. A little further north, in Peru, the situation is similar, but the superfood is different. The affluent neighborhoods of Lima are experiencing a blueberry boom. There's even a blueberry themed restaurant catering to the constantly rising demand for the round blue fruit. Mostly in cakes and pies. The new eatery's signature dish is the blueberry cheesecake. Owner Sara Abusaba says the popularity of her healthy blueberry recipes surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. [00:26:45] Speaker 3: Not only does it taste delicious and light, but it's also good for you. [00:26:53] Speaker 11: Nowadays, people are looking for foods that improve their health. Not only to help maintain their figure, but also to stay healthy and strengthen their defenses. Blueberries allegedly sate the appetite. [00:27:10] Speaker 1: They're cultivated in ever-growing numbers further north in the country. Reina Espinoza is benefitting from the blueberry boom. The 41-year-old was unemployed for a long time. Now she hardly has any time for her family before she leaves for work in the morning. [00:27:39] Speaker 16: There's nowhere better to work than in the blueberry fields. [00:27:46] Speaker 8: They need workers every week and the work isn't that hard. Plus, they pay well. [00:27:54] Speaker 1: Reina earns the equivalent of 360 euros per month. That's not a bad income in Peru, she says. The blueberry plantations are filling the dust-filled desert. They didn't grow here originally. But because Europeans want blueberries year-round, the hillsides in Peru are now full of them. These fields were created two years ago, and now 1,500 seasonal workers come to harvest the more than 3 million bushes. They grow in plastic bags filled with humus, because nothing would thrive in the arid desert soil. It's an artificially created wonderland for blueberries, where Reina is the forewoman responsible for the harvest's quality. [00:28:55] Speaker 8: You have to imagine that, until two years ago, there was nothing but desert and sand where we're standing. And today we're now harvesting tons and tons of blueberries. It's really amazing. [00:29:09] Speaker 1: Blueberries are already known as a superfood. Seedless and low in sugar, but rich in fruit acids and vitamins. They've even been said to reduce the risk of cancer. And Peru has risen out of nowhere to become the world's leading exporter of the berry. The desert climate is perfect for the fruit. Farmers only have to keep an eye out for butterflies and fungi. As gently as possible, the manager reassures us. [00:29:42] Speaker 4: We only use pesticides that have been approved both in Peru and in the recipient country, once every other countermeasure has failed and the insects or disease don't go away. [00:29:56] Speaker 1: Unlike native European blueberries, Peruvian blueberries come from highly potent hybrid plants, which ensure even bigger yields in the future. The latest variety has been named Matthias. It bears more and plumper berries and its developers hope European supermarkets will soon be impressed. [00:30:19] Speaker 17: This variety is in response to what consumers are demanding and expect. [00:30:27] Speaker 7: They want better quality, bigger, firmer berries that can be refrigerated for a longer time at home. And it's also a variety that has a nice blue shine to it. [00:30:43] Speaker 17: Blueberry consumption is skyrocketing. [00:30:48] Speaker 1: It's a good business and Peru wants in on it. These berries are beginning a 10,000-kilometre three-week voyage aboard a refrigerated ship to Europe, where they'll end up in fruit salads, desserts and kindergarten snacks. [00:31:04] Speaker 7: We only treat the berries with officially approved chemicals and adhere to the limits. Clients also demand a multiresidue analysis of our product before it's shipped. [00:31:15] Speaker 1: The journey begins in the port of Valparaíso. In October and November, the main destination is Germany. Critics are concerned about the carbon footprint of blueberries shipped from South America to Europe. But it's a lucrative business model for Peru. The hardest working pickers are rewarded with food baskets with oil, rice and noodles. [00:31:43] Speaker 4: Every week we rank the best pickers. [00:31:47] Speaker 18: They get a bonus. [00:31:51] Speaker 4: This is a public ceremony with pictures. The workers like that. [00:31:58] Speaker 1: The blueberry boom is also a blessing for people in the surrounding area, as it brings many jobs and helps to develop communities, says Paola Navarro. The chicken farmer says the best thing is that there are no more problems with the water supply. [00:32:18] Speaker 19: In the beginning we didn't have drinking water here. Then we talked to the mayor, who supported us. Now that we got the water, all we need is a treatment plant to make sure it's clean. [00:32:37] Speaker 3: That's still missing. [00:32:40] Speaker 1: There's still enough meltwater in these parts for both blueberries and people. But in a few years' time, the plantation will have tripled in size. Dams are being built in the Andes to meet the demand, to divert glacier water through tunnels. Instead of flowing east towards the Amazon, it will be directed west to the Pacific, where more and more blueberry farms are sprouting. [00:33:06] Speaker 4: We need to plant more and bigger blueberry fields to reach the next level and be more competitive with exports and to become an international player. [00:33:16] Speaker 18: And we need water infrastructure projects for this. [00:33:25] Speaker 1: Unlike Chile's avocado producers, the blueberry producers in Peru are just getting started. And they're thinking big. [00:33:35] Speaker 4: Previous infrastructure projects in Peru have succeeded in diverting Andean water away from the Atlantic and towards the Pacific. But we need more of those because we can produce four times more blueberries than we currently do. [00:33:52] Speaker 1: New plantations with millions of bushes are being planned by sealing contracts with local mayors from the surrounding area. All with the goal of boosting blueberry exports as fast as possible. [00:34:14] Speaker 7: We want to become a global company and to share the profit by working with local farming communities. We want to use genetic engineering because this innovative technology is a very powerful tool capable of changing people's lives. [00:34:31] Speaker 20: That's how we came here to Chambara. [00:34:34] Speaker 1: Mayor Juan Carlos Lopez hopes the blueberry boom will benefit his community. [00:34:41] Speaker 4: Our association will benefit greatly from this cooperation by creating two to three thousand jobs. This will help the whole community in general and bring a lot of economic activity. It's been a great pleasure for us and a big achievement. [00:35:01] Speaker 1: Our blueberry plantation could usher in a much needed economic renaissance in Juan Carlos's poor community. Things are supposed to begin changing in a few months. But so far nothing indicates that soon millions of blueberry bushes will grow in this rocky desert. [00:35:27] Speaker 4: When the blueberries are growing here, it will be amazing. Like a dream come true for our poor community. [00:35:41] Speaker 1: He does have some concerns about the water supply. But the great hope for prosperity outweighs any negative thoughts. Thanks to three thousand new jobs. [00:35:52] Speaker 4: "I think there's more than enough water. The only problem is pumping it the 14 kilometers from the river to here. [00:36:02] Speaker 6: But with the help of modern technology, I think it'll be okay." [00:36:12] Speaker 1: Peru has yet to feel the consequences of water shortages due to monocultures. Unlike Chile where the fight for water has gone on for years. Rodrigo wants to show us one of the many illegal wells in Chile. Above the avocado plantations, a dirt road leads to a stream that still hasn't dried up. [00:36:42] Speaker 5: "Hurry up, hurry." [00:36:52] Speaker 1: A well appears next to the stream. [00:36:54] Speaker 7: "This well leads to canals that are connected to large basins used to irrigate the plantations." [00:37:07] Speaker 2: "This well is illegal. It was built into the riverbed and someone is illegally appropriating the water." [00:37:13] Speaker 5: "Have you reported it?" [00:37:29] Speaker 2: "Of course, several times." "And?" [00:37:33] Speaker 15: "Nothing." [00:37:35] Speaker 4: "We need this water in the village down the road." [00:37:38] Speaker 15: "Nobody checks it?" [00:37:39] Speaker 4: "Nobody." [00:37:41] Speaker 15: "No, nobody." [00:37:44] Speaker 1: It's nothing new. Profits over well-being. When confronted, the region's main producer claims that avocado cultivation is not to blame for the water shortage. And that no court decision has found any of the producers in Potorca guilty of water theft. But disputes over water continue to flare up, especially in the hot summer months. [00:38:16] Speaker 2: In 2012, an aerial observation of the La Ligua River looked for subterranean channels diverting water away from the river. They found 64 channels along the riverbed. 64! That's why the river is completely dry. The underground water was diverted by the avocado growers. And that's why they never lack water. [00:38:44] Speaker 1: What do Europe's major avocado importers have to say? In 2017, we looked for answers at the world's largest fruit convention in Berlin. One major Dutch distributor has already taken action. [00:39:04] Speaker 21: We really need to find the right partners who are located on the right spots. So from the Potorca region, we as a company, we don't source from that region. Just because of the water issues that are in that location. [00:39:26] Speaker 1: Water is also the biggest concern for avocado grower Matthias Schmidt. But he's only worried about whether or not his thirsty avocados get enough to drink. [00:39:43] Speaker 2: Sure, water is the scarce commodity, no doubt about it. The government should spend more money buying land to make more space for water basins. [00:39:53] Speaker 12: One thing is certain: Matthias' water needs will drastically increase. [00:40:04] Speaker 1: He has bought new fields and has already ordered more seedlings. 600,000 new avocado trees, no less. And Matthias believes the boom is just getting started. [00:40:18] Speaker 12: There's a 30% increase in demand annually. [00:40:27] Speaker 2: 30%. Year after year, it doesn't stop. And now we're waiting for China. They're just beginning to discover avocados and they're still eating them unripe. That's why we're financing advertising campaigns to show the Chinese how to eat them. Potentially a great market for us. [00:40:47] Speaker 1: But while there's a gold rush for avocado farmers, environmentalists are even more worried than before. And the battle for water is far from over. Activist Rodrigo Mundaca is doing his best to enforce citizens' rights in his new role as a representative of the state. Even though he and his fellow activists even receive death threats. They know that the question of whether water should be a public good or privately owned is a hot topic. That it affects the economic interests of very powerful circles. [00:41:29] Speaker 2: Chile continues to be a country of extraordinary inequality and impunity. We can't tolerate the death threats directed at women fighting for human rights. That's why our struggle continues, both out in the streets and here, on an institutional level. But Rodrigo's struggle isn't just a local one. [00:41:55] Speaker 1: As long as people in Europe remain among the biggest consumers of avocados and blueberries, the superfoods from Chile and Peru will come at a big price. [00:42:10] Speaker ?: We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening.