Fruit Friction

By James Plaskitt

Nobody disputes the health benefits of eating an avocado and the little fruit has grown in popularity as a result. But if you are in the habit of adding a few to your regular shopping, are you aware of the mounting controversies they are causing here in the Algarve?

Local farming businesses have responded to the growing demand for avocados and started growing them locally. One of the largest plantations in the region was set down by Frutineves, a Silves-based company. In 2019, they cleared land between Espiche and Barão de São João, clearing away cork, carobs and vines, to plant 128 hectares of avocado. The first crops were gathered this year.

But as the trees have grown over the last couple of years, so has local opposition. And the argument mainly involves that vital resource – water.

The problem is that the splendid little fruit is thirsty, and it takes a lot of water to produce an avocado – and the Algarve isn’t exactly abundantly provided with water. Local campaign groups have been formed to oppose the development of avocado plantations and the leading group, Regenerate, claims that the firms are causing local aquifers and even rivers to run dry, threatening supplies to traditional farms and to local residential properties in rural areas.

Initially, the Algarve Regional Development Council (CCDR) stood back from the development, pointing out that the plantations did not require special licencing or environmental impact assessments. But as the controversy has grown, the council has been forced to engage, and local MPs have also begun to speak out. Green and left groups in the Parliament have begun pressing for a moratorium on any further plantations.

There is now a developing conflict between the agribusinesses and the authorities. Frutineves was told that it had overplanted the site and was instructed to cut back its size. However, it remains unaltered and the firm was subject to a small fine as a result.

Eventually the site was subjected to an environmental impact assessment, which reported in May this year, and which confirmed the potential for the plantation to compromise local water sources. Following the assessment, the company was told by the Inspectorate of Agriculture Environment and Spatial Planning – IGAMAOT – to implement a number of changes to reduce the impact on the local environment, giving the firm until mid-November to present its implementation plan. Instead the company has gone to court to seek to annul the order from the Inspectorate.

There are claims on both sides of the argument. The avocado farmers point out that growing the crop here in the Algarve, to meet local demand, cuts out the need for imports from Israel and South America, thereby cutting food miles and reducing the overall carbon footprint of bringing the fruit to our shopping basket. They also argue that the avocado – once the trees are mature – may be no thirstier than other citrus trees, and there are 15,000 hectares of those in the region, as opposed to only 1,600 of avocado. They have also argued that more efficient water management in the region would solve the supply problem.

But these claims are of course challenged by opponents. They would question whether the food miles gain justifies the water loss, and cite the Impact Assessment’s claim that the Lagos plantation was resulting in a 68% increase in local groundwater consumption. There is considerable dispute over the claims about water consumption. Local authorities estimate that the current plantation is consuming one million litres of water a day. As for the comparative thirst of avocados and other citrus fruits, an objective source would indicate that the former is indeed the thirstier – according to World Health Organisation data, it takes 280 litres of water to produce 1 kg of avocados, but only 110 litres to produce 1 kg of oranges.

So you may be putting a healthy little fruit into your shopping basket this week, but here in the Algarve, it is the subject of a growing argument between agribusiness, civic campaigners and politicians.

And now it is headed into the courts: advogado versus avocado.

James Plaskitt served as an MP in Tony Blair’s government in the UK. He is now retired in the Algarve.

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