Environmental impacts of the U.S.-Mexico avocado supply chain

Abstract

The U.S. imports 87 percent of its avocados from one region (Michoacán) in Mexico. Although environmental and social costs associated with avocado production are significant, consumers and retailers in the U.S. are not aware of them in part due to complex, opaque supply chains. In this paper, we use a methodology known as TRACAST (Tracking Corporate Actors Across Space and Time) to reconstruct avocado supply chains between U.S. retailers (e.g. Kroger and Costco) and Mexican producers and exporters. Using remote sensing and machine learning, we document how avocado plantations have led to significant deforestation in Michoacán, whose forests are important reservoirs for biodiversity, especially the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). We estimate that ~20% of the total forest loss (15,000 ha) in Michoacán between 2001 and 2017 is associated with expansion of avocado orchards. Despite these impacts, interviews reveal that industry experts (namely representatives of firms and government officers) do not consider avocado production to be a driver of deforestation in the region. This disconnection between actual and perceived environmental impact can be addressed by the U.S. governmental agencies (namely USDA APHIS) who play influential roles in regulating avocado imports for sanitary and health purposes and by the vertically integrated avocado trading companies who connect Michoacán packing houses to Kroger, Costco, and other large U.S. grocery retailers. Key measures to make the U.S.- Mexico avocado trade more sustainable include greater information transparency and multi-stakeholder initiatives.