Mexico’s Avocado Industry Turns to AI and Satellite Monitoring to Curb Deforestation

Mexico is advancing a new approach to tackling deforestation linked to avocado production, with a voluntary certification programme now covering more than 90% of Mexican avocado exports to the United States.

The Pro-Forest Agriculture (PFA) programme, launched in 2024 by Mexican environmental organization Guardián Forestal with the government of Michoacán, uses satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and geospatial analysis to identify orchards associated with recent deforestation. Participating suppliers can exclude high-risk farms from their supply chains, allowing retailers to make sourcing decisions based on environmental monitoring.

Around 80 packhouses, guacamole processors, and avocado oil producers are currently part of the system. The certification excludes orchards deforested since 2018 or those with unresolved environmental fines and administrative orders. The programme has also expanded beyond Michoacán to all six Mexican states with significant avocado production, with monitoring now covering more than 53,000 orchards across 200,000 hectares.

Retailers are helping accelerate adoption. Costco committed in 2025 to reducing deforestation in its avocado supply chain and encouraging suppliers to participate, while Sprouts Farmers Market announced in May 2026 that Mexican avocados it sources must come from PFA-certified suppliers.

The shift follows years of scrutiny over avocado-driven deforestation, water scarcity, and impacts on local communities. However, certification remains voluntary, meaning producers linked to recent forest loss can still access the U.S. market through non-participating buyers.

Environmental advocates say broader retailer adoption will be critical to closing this gap. If major supermarkets increasingly require certified sourcing, the programme could make deforestation-free avocado supply chains a market expectation rather than a voluntary sustainability measure.

AI-and-satellite monitoring for deforestation risk is exactly the traceability infrastructure that EUDR compliance will need, and Mexican avocado supply chains are becoming a template for other soft-commodity sectors. Our supply-chain-and-operations and data-and-digital teams help agri-food clients evaluate what these traceability systems mean for EUDR readiness and disclosure.