The 3Ps (Profit, Planet, and People) of Sustainability amidst Climate Change: A South African Grape and Wine Perspective

Omamuyovwi Gbejewoh,Saskia Keesstra,Erna Blancquaert

doi:10.3390/su13052910

Abstract

Conventional agriculture has made the search for sustainability urgent, more so with regards to climate change. This has extended to the grape and wine industry, an important industry in South Africa in terms of labor employment and foreign exchange. This paper aims to review the current state of knowledge with regards to the three pillars of sustainability and with regards to climate change. In order to understand sustainability in South Africa, a historical context is needed, because the welfare of farm workers still retains vestiges of past Apartheid. Ecological responsibility and higher profits are the main reasons for sustainable practices. Additionally, water use, chemical use, and soil erosion are important environmental sustainability concerns. With regards to climate change, in terms of economic sustainability, there will be winners and losers and social sustainability issues will intensify as changes occur in farms. Table grape producers are relatively more profitable than wine grape producers. Furthermore, pest, disease, irrigation pressure will worsen as the climate warms. However, there are long- and short-term adaptation strategies such as changes in viticulture practices and grape cultivars, respectively, to stem the effects of climate change, but this may be stymied by cost and farmers’ perceptions of climate change.

Highlights

This review has implicitly shown that an overwhelming majority of research in sustainability and sustainability in climate change has been conducted in Western countries
Sustainability has become a catch-all phrase for practically all efforts to remedy the detrimental impacts of conventional agriculture, even in the grape and wine industry that traditionally has not been viewed as a environmentally impactful industry
The historical context of South Africa shows that sustainability amidst climate change is very important to the grape and wine industry, especially for reasons of environmental stewardship, higher profits, and stakeholders’ pressure

Summary

Introduction

There has been an increased contemporary awareness about the environmental impacts of agricultural production and consumption; since the 1960s, agriculture has relied largely on synthetic chemicals (fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides) and mechanization to achieve increased levels of production at the least possible cost [1,2]. This period, known as the “green revolution”, while it increased food production, brought detrimental consequences to the world’s natural resources [3]. Sustainability and sustainable development from the Brundtland Report “Our Common Future” [4] and the 1992 Rio

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