Fruit Attraction 2025 showcases collective action for sustainable water management

Water scarcity is reshaping global fruit supply chains. As climate change intensifies and regulations tighten, agricultural producers face mounting pressure to secure water at source. Certifications alone are no longer enough — what’s needed is collaboration across entire basins.

This was the core message of the session “Collective action in river basins: managing water risks in agricultural value chains”, presented at Fruit Attraction 2025 by Good Stuff International (GSI), in partnership with Greenyard, IDH, WRAP, Nature’s Pride, Partners for Water, Xynergica, and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Peru.

“We want to move beyond talking only about water,” said Alex Fernández, Director of GSI Spain. “What if water could become a competitive advantage in the global fruit market?”

Alongside Diego Arévalo, Director of GSI Latin America, the team showcased two real-world cases where collective basin action links sustainability with business performance — in southern Spain and Peru’s Ica region.

Transforming risk into opportunity

In Spain, Fernández highlighted how the country — “Europe’s orchard” — relies heavily on fruit exports yet faces growing water stress. Through partnerships with European retailers and NGOs, GSI is building multi-stakeholder platforms in Murcia and Doñana (Huelva) that unite farmers, scientists, companies, and public authorities around shared goals.

The initiative promotes water stewardship, legal water and soil security, and ecosystem restoration, with measurable field actions such as aquifer recovery, reforestation, and regenerative farming pilots. “The client is the basin,” Fernández explained. “Improving its health means improving the resilience of everyone who depends on it.”

Linking mountains and markets in Peru

Diego Arévalo presented the second case, from Ica, where water-dependent grape production faces acute scarcity. GSI’s project connects valley producers with upper-basin communities, creating nature-based solutions such as infiltration ditches and native reforestation to restore aquifers.

“It’s not about selling grapes today — it’s about still selling them in fifty years,” Arévalo noted.

Scientific monitoring shows results: 26,000 cubic metres of additional infiltration per year and 27 tonnes of sediment retained per hectare, reinforcing both ecosystems and livelihoods.

A shared path forward

The speakers concluded that water risks cannot be managed by single actors. Only collective governance at basin level can secure lasting resilience for agri-food systems. “These processes don’t happen overnight,” Arévalo reminded. “Like good fruit, they need time and commitment to mature.”

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