Between 4 and 11 July, the WAVE Partnership held a series of in-person workshops and events in the Aconcagua Valley in Chile, kicking off its three-year strategy for bringing the catchment back into balance. 

Water is becoming an ever scarcer resource. The impacts of climate change and overproduction on water security are becoming clear in real time. Agriculture is both a driver and victim of this, representing over 70% of global freshwater withdrawals, whilst increasingly being affected by droughts and other climate impacts.

Yet most projects and programmes in agriculture aimed at addressing this fall into the same trap. They focus heavily on technical solutions at farm level, without adequately addressing the market dynamics or enabling the environment needed to sustain them.

The WAVE Partnership thus focuses on building catchments in balance, where water inflows, outflows, and storage are sustainably managed to support ecosystems, communities, and long-term supply chain resilience. In doing so, it represents a shift from farm-level action to catchment-level water stewardship.

This article was produced in collaboration with New Foresight.

What is the WAVE Partnership

WAVE is a multi-stakeholder partnership consisting of supply chain partners, farmers, and government. Initiated in 2025, it is dedicated to scaling a collective action approach to strengthen water and biodiversity management in agriculture, with a focus on agri-food supply chains.

The WAVE Partnership has a three-tiered strategy focused on action at the level of farmers, supply chain, and enabling environment. It started in Chile and is gradually being scaled to other key origins at water risk, such as South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Mexico.

WAVE Aconcagua (2025-2028) is the first project under the WAVE Partnership. The collective action project was initiated through the RVO Partners for Water program, building on pioneering work by Nature’s Pride, the Government of the Netherlands, Greenticket, and NewForesight. The WAVE Aconcagua project is run by Nature’s Pride, Salling Group, Dole Food Company, Westfalia Fruit, the producer-driven Aconcagua Network, and the Government of the Netherlands, and is coordinated by NewForesight.

Learning from Aconcagua, Chile, brought to scale

Supported by the Partners for Water Programme, in 2023, we launched the organisation’s first project in Chile’s Aconcagua Valley – a supplier of high-quality avocado, citrus, cherries, and other fruits to the UK and EU markets – with avocado exports to these regions alone valued at 151.39 million USD per year.

However, the water balance is increasingly negative, as groundwater outflows exceed inflows due to unsustainable water extraction for agriculture and other sectors, coupled with climate change.

The NewForesight team, led by Joost Backer and Susanna Kluiver, together with Greenticket, Partners for Water, the Netherlands embassy in Chile, and Nature’s Pride, convened key actors – farmers, buyers, and government representatives – to help advance the Partnership’s goal of bringing the catchment back into balance. Between 4th and 11th July, the WAVE Partnership held a series of in-person events in Chile to kick off the next three years.

At the farm level we strengthened collaboration with the Aconcagua Network – a group of producers taking an active role in addressing these shared challenges. Together, we began work on the Regenerative Agriculture Guide to help farmers improve, measure, and communicate progress in areas such as water efficiency, water footprint, biodiversity restoration, reforestation, and carbon sequestration.

We also had the opportunity to visit Urmeneta (30 ha), Corporafruit (444 ha), and Jorge Schmidt (2,050 ha). From solar-powered irrigation to reforestation efforts and biodiversity conservation, these producers are actively implementing sustainable farming practices.

At the enabling environment level, we engaged with key government and institutional actors, including Chile’s national water authority (DGA), the Ministry of Environment, CORFO, ProChile, and regional representatives. These conversations signalled growing momentum for public–private collaboration. The WAVE Partnership aims to structurally raise dialogue at this catchment level.

At the buyer level, we engaged with teams from Nature’s Pride, Dole Food Company, and Westfalia Fruit to explore how market players can help drive the transformations needed for more sustainable and resilient supply chains. Buyers increasingly recognize the role they can play in incentivizing more sustainable farming practices and supporting producers through transition.

There is significant interest in understanding evolving demands from European markets, underscoring the importance of WAVE’s role as a bridge between producers and buyers. At the same time, producers expressed a clear need for simplification and alignment across certifications (e.g. RA, GlobalG.A.P., LEAF).

What happens next?

Water is not just a technical challenge, but a systems issue that needs to be addressed at a catchment level. This requires shared responsibility, smarter incentives, and collaborative governance. That is what the WAVE Partnership stands for; starting in Chile, and scaling up to other origins in the fresh fruits and vegetables sector.

The next steps in the partnership include deepening and expanding collaboration by engaging additional producers and strengthening ties with local governments, civil society, and the DGA. The partnership will also continue advancing work with producers on the Regenerative Agriculture Guide to support the measurement, communication, and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices.

Want to know more? Contact Joost Backer from NewForesight, the lead consultant in this work or Thaísa Martins Fernandes Pessanha from Partners for Water.

*WAVE stands for Water, Agriculture, Values, and Ecosystems – the key elements this Partnership aims to integrate into international trade and pre-competitive collaboration

With the Human series, we showcase the people who are involved in and benefit from the Partners for Water projects. The Human series sheds light on the stories of the people with whom and for whom Partners for Water works, and on how water affects their lives. Discover below how Carolina Salas learned that while water is vital, its ever-changing patterns require constant adaptation.

Meet Carolina Salas

This Humans of Partners for Water series focuses on Carolina Salas, a sustainability manager at Agrícola La Quebrada del Ají Ltda, Chile. Her experiences with extreme drought and torrential rains have ignited her passion for understanding the complexities of water, driving her to advocate for sustainable practices that empower her community.

Embracing the unpredictability of water

Carolina Salas, a sustainability manager in Quebrada del Ají, a small and remote town in the Valparaíso region of Chile, has experienced firsthand the dynamic nature of water. In her town, she has witnessed both extreme abundance and prolonged drought. Carolina vividly recalls an event from twenty years ago when she and her neighbors were trapped in the village for a week due to incessant rain. At that time, she had a small baby, adding to the difficulty of the situation.

This period of heavy rainfall was followed by a long stretch of drought, which brought its own challenges. These changes were significant learning experiences for Carolina and her community members, deepening their understanding of the importance of water.

“I’m passionate about water because, obviously, it’s an important resource, but it is also a very dynamic one”.

In recent years, Carolina has noticed increased global attention to the challenges they face regarding water. However, they can never predict what comes next. What they have learned is to no longer be afraid but to adapt. Water, she explains, is a resource that is not stable and creates many realities.