Lima Region

Lima Region exhibits source-sink dynamics at national scale—a fertile hinterland feeding the capital that consumes 30% of Peru's population. While Lima Province encompasses the metropolitan capital generating over 40% of Peru's GDP, Lima Region comprises the surrounding valleys that provision the mega-city. The Chancay-Huaral and Chillón valleys, located 83 and 30 kilometers north respectively, function as Lima's primary agricultural supply zone, growing potatoes, maize, tomatoes, and horticultural crops destined for the fresh market of a 10-million-person metropolis.

The coastal strip that encompasses Lima Region represents a paradox of Peruvian geography: only 10.7% of national territory yet home to 58.8% of the population. This concentration emerged because the same desert conditions that required sophisticated irrigation also provided reliable weather patterns for agriculture. Peru quadrupled its high-value export farmland to nearly 200,000 hectares over two decades, with Lima Region contributing to avocado production alongside La Libertad—together exceeding 40% of national output. Agricultural exports reached $11.5 billion in 2024, driven by grapes, blueberries, avocados, asparagus, and organic bananas.

Yet proximity to the capital creates pressure. Urban expansion consumes agricultural land, pesticide use in the Chancay-Huaral and Chillón valleys raises food safety questions, and water allocation between urban and agricultural users intensifies as the city grows. Lima Region exists in perpetual tension between its role as Lima Province's food supply and its vulnerability to the capital's metropolitan expansion—a supplier that risks being absorbed by its dominant consumer.