María Soledad Paz - How many hundreds of liters of water does it take to produce 1 kg of avocados?!

This month we are delighted to be joined by our colleague from Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki, María Soledad Paz. Her research looks at the interplay of water and avocado plantations in central Chile. Currently, water is being diverted from rivers to feed the avocados which has deleterious effects on the land and the community that is dependent on the land. Small holder farmers are no longer able to sustain their livelihoods and local production while on the next hill the avocado plantations are thriving because they take the water. This area is an area in Chile where agro-extractivism runs rampant as most of the agricultural produce is exported at the expense of the land and people in place. María introduces us to some of the deeper issues with what is happening where avocados are produced which are not always considered when avocados are being consumed in Europe. We explore this disconnection in depth. Join us for this wide ranging and interesting conversation!Interested to check out María’s work? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/mar%C3%ADa-soledad-paz/