Securing the future of viticulture

How can the current generation of table-grape growers safeguard the industry for them and their descendants?

By Anna Mouton

Societies everywhere are undergoing major transitions. “So many of us are struggling to deal with instability,” says Prof Stephanie Midgley, Specialist Scientist for Climate Change at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. She points out that change is not limited to climate: demographic shifts, our relationship to nature and ecosystems, our energy and food systems, and how we handle waste are interacting to create what has been called a polycrisis. According to the 2023 Global Risks Report compiled by the World Economic Forum, environmental risks represent half of the top 10 risks confronting humanity in the next two years. Environmental risks also constitute the top four risks we face over the coming decade. The rapid warming of much of SA due to climate change exemplifies environmental risk in the making. Vital table-grape production areas such as the Olifants and Orange River Regions are already becoming hotter and will probably become drier. But Midgley is not defeatist. “We must not be overwhelmed,” she asserts. “We have to deal with these issues in a systematic way that protects our society and the natural environment that will support us in future.”
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Balancing present and future The United Nations has defined sustainability as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to fulfil their needs. “The people who come after us in agriculture – in table-grape production – should have the same opportunities we had,” says Midgley. “We are responsible for helping them into that future.” Sustainability is built on three pillars: environmental, economic, and social. Midgley explains that there is growing recognition that the environment is the foundation for healthy societies’ economic productivity. In keeping with this three-tiered model, the United Nations sees goals relating to the biosphere – life on land and in water, clean water and sanitation, and climate action – underpinning societal and economic sustainable development. Unfortunately, progress toward the sustainable development goals has faltered. “It’s concerning that we’ve agreed to these goals, but as a globe, we’re unable to meet them,” says Midgley. “How are we going to deal with that?” She emphasises that embracing sustainability while phasing out unsustainable practices requires a scientific basis. The challenge is bridging the gap between science and policy and between science and practice.

From science to practice Adopting sustainability practices requires integrating policy and regulations, producers and value chains, science and innovation, and finance. “The most important driver of adoption is social capital – the relationships or networks between producers, advisers, and business partners,” says Midgley. She describes a study by Stellenbosch University, which examined producers’ adoption of mitigation practices during the 2015–2018 Western Cape drought. Social capital was crucial in helping people apply science to their situation. “Locally contextualised knowledge is very important, and that speaks to human capital,” says Midgley, referring to the five capitals: natural, human, social, physical, and financial. She thinks that human and social capital are often underrated when discussing sustainability. For example, trusting relationships between scientists and producers are essential for bridging the gap between laboratory and vineyard. In SA, industry bodies such as SATI work closely with researchers and growers to set research priorities and ensure technology transfer through events like information days and webinars, and publications like books, magazines, and newsletters. “If all of those are done well, we get strong adoption,” notes Midgley. Although some growers might be sceptical of the benefits of policy, Midgley advocates for supportive policy and planning. “Good policy and regulation are not the enemy,” she says. She has only been in government for three years – before that, she was a researcher, and in the private sector. Midgley has experienced how strong policies can help agriculture, provided they are developed in consultation with the affected sectors to ensure sensible, effective, and affordable measures and results.

Integrated sustainability Growers may sometimes feel that the burden of sustainability is all on their shoulders. Still, Midgley makes it clear that sustainability must be integrated across the entire food system and value chain. However, she describes several approaches of particular interest to table-grape producers. One of these is building healthy soils, which support high crop yields and quality, and are characterised by good water infiltration, drainage, and holding capacity; nutrient retention, recycling, and supply; carbon storage; and biodiversity. Cover crops, mulches, and compost will all promote soil health. Sustainable water use is another approach, especially relevant to South African growers. “The concept of crop water productivity is being pushed by the fruit industries, together with the Water Research Commission,” says Midgley. “We want to ensure that we get more yield and income for every drop of water we put down.” The Western Cape Department of Agriculture, in partnership with other organisations and landowners, is also investing in nature-based solutions, such as rehabilitating catchments and river systems. According to Midgley, alien removal can increase catchment water yields by 15–29%. In addition, the Department is incorporating climate change into its disaster risk reduction planning. “We had a summit earlier this year where we talked about how to make agriculture more resilient to the next disasters,” Midgley reports, “and we came up with seven priorities that we’re now actioning.” There are many more examples of integrated approaches to sustainability, including Confronting Climate Change (an online carbon-footprint calculator for the South African fruit and wine industries), SIZA (the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa) and international systems such as ESG (environmental, social, and governance standards for corporate sustainability) and SBTi (science-based targets initiative). “In the Western Cape, many of these initiatives are encompassed in our SmartAgri Plan, a climate change response framework and plan drawn up by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture in 2016,” says Midgley. “We are still implementing it more deeply and widely, working with all the agricultural industries – and beyond – as a systems approach to create resilience and sustainability.”

The time to act is now “If we invest in the sustainability transformation now, it’s going to be cheaper than waiting for a disaster to which we have to react,” stresses Midgley. In this regard, she thinks that the 2015–2018 drought was a valuable learning experience. It stimulated the widespread adoption of water-saving practices such as mulching and technologies for better water delivery and irrigation scheduling. Scientists and industry bodies collaborated to gain greater insight into crop water needs, for example, through a joint 2020 project by SATI, Winetech and the Water Research Commission, assessing the water footprint of table- and wine-grape production. Meanwhile, government bodies developed plans and policies to deal with future droughts, for example, the 15-year Integrated Drought and Water Response Plan funded by the Western Cape Government. For Midgley, this shows how collaborations and partnerships can pay off and are essential for real impact. “The whole value chain must work together on this agenda, not only to reduce and share the burden but also to unlock opportunities.” Ultimately, embracing sustainability is the way forward for everyone. “The green train is unstoppable,” affirms Midgley. “We have to go with it because the ecological and climate crisis must be stopped.”
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