When people think about the water they use, they typically think about drinking tap water or showering every day. But about 70% of the water we use goes to growing the plants that feed us, a number that increases as much as 90% in low-income countries. Finding water for other uses may be a difficult task.
However, in many areas, farmers are encouraged to make use of as much or much more water as they feel they should ensure a successful harvest. “Governments want to produce their own food. They don’t want water to be expensive” – Jairo Trad, co-founder and CEO of the company Agriculturehe told TechCrunch.
“But if farmers don’t irrigate very well, there is a huge risk of losing production, losing money and losing more food,” he added. “There is an imbalance in risk.”
Cheap irrigation has turned many regions around the world into breadbaskets, but it also means there is little left for other purposes.
For corporations, water shortages can pose an existential threat. “If you have a $200 million bottling plant and you don’t have water next week, the risk is high,” Trad said. “So we started talking to people and trying to put a price on water.”
What Trad and his colleagues at Kilimo have developed can best be considered a risk management tool. To date, the company has collected roughly 100,000 soil samples from 45 various kinds of crops in many different countries, mainly in South America. From there, it uses these samples to mix soil moisture with satellite images of farmlands, which is much easier to acquire.
“You have to sit close to the ground to understand how things behave in that particular soil in that particular country,” Trad said.
Kilimo can then remotely monitor farmlands and advise farmers on water use. It charges farmers a fee for this service, and if they will successfully reduce their water use, Kilimo can sell the excess water to a company that needs it in the same watershed, sharing a portion of the proceeds with the farmer. Ultimately, farmers who reduce their water use will earn 20% to 40% greater than they paid Kilimo. Everything is third-party verified in keeping with the Volumetric Water Benefits Accounting standard.
Although the startup has been around for about a decade, it is working to expand its operations as water scarcity becomes one of the top concerns for managers. It currently operates throughout South America, including Argentina, where it is based, and Mexico. Next in line are the southwestern United States and Europe. To support growth, Kilimo recently raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, which the company shared exclusively with TechCrunch. The round was led by Emerald Technology Ventures with participation from iThink VC, Kamay Ventures, Salkantay Ventures and The Yield Lab Latam.
Kilimo is working with Microsoft, Intel and Coca-Cola, all of which have announced water commitments. (Data centers eat large amounts of water, identical to beverages.) Trad hopes to sign more partners. “Any company alone won’t make a difference. But if you can leverage corporates, government and development bank entities, you will start to make a difference,” he said.