WATER POLITICS

After several years of selling irrigation management tools to farmers, Argentina-based Kilimo recently adjusted its business model to focus on “water neutrality” for corporates.

The concept is “kind of like carbon markets but specifically tied to water savings,” says Kilimo founder and CEO Jairo Trad.

Farmers purchase and use Kilimo’s irrigation management tool, which Trad says saves them not just water but also money by decreasing their energy bills.

Corporates can purchase verified water savings credits that contribute to their overall water sustainability goals. Farmers receive direct cash payment.

Kilimo’s focus on water is partly a response to the current “carbon blindness” happening around the world, says Trad. Most corporate sustainability goals tend to focus heavily on carbon emissions reductions without giving as much weight to other areas such as biodiversity and water.

“We have to abandon this carbon blindness,” he says. “Three key ecosystems are tied together — biodiversity, water and carbon — and we have to think to the three of them.”

Trad shares thoughts in this video on how to do this and also his hopes for the future of agrifoodtech in Latin America.