trust.org via globalcitizen.org  – wsscc  by Nicky Milne

PETORCA, Chile, June 3 — Walking along a cracked earth path in Chile’s Petorca province, Catalina Espinoza points to a barren hill littered with dried shrubs and cacti — and to a nearby dry waterway.

The city of Petorca, a three-hour drive north of the capital Santiago, sits in the heart of Chile’s booming avocado industry, surrounded by rows of thousands of avocado trees.

Its abundant produce helps make Chile the world’s third-largest exporter of the popular fruit. But the bounty has come at a price, residents say — the drying of local water supplies.

About 70% of fresh water used each year goes to agriculture, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Finding ways to reduce farming’s share of the world’s water, while still growing enough food to feed a rising population, will be crucial to preventing worsening hunger, particularly in the face of climate change, food experts say.

But global trade in food — which is effectively trade in the water used to produce it — may also need reconsideration in an era of increasing water shortages, they say.

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