Analysis of the Socio-environmental Impacts of Agroforestry in Vineyards of Southwestern France, in the Context of Climate Change

Climate change is leading to shifts in the suitability of regions for winegrowing globally (Moriondo et al., 2013). Changes in temperature and precipitation trends are influencing grapevine phenology, leading to yield loss and altered wine taste (Van Leeuwen et al., 2024). Therefore, winegrowers must opt for climate-resilient viticultural practices to preserve their production over time. Agroforestry is a nature-based solution that can provide ecosystem services essential for mitigating the impacts of climate change on agriculture. Recent studies have shown that agroforestry in vineyards, also termed vitiforestry, can protect grapevine production under extreme heat and drought (Bourgade et al., 2020; Grimaldi, 2018). However, the extent to which winegrowers experience such benefits has not yet been researched. Hence, this study aims to assess the capacity of agroforestry in mitigating the socio-environmental effects of climate change on vineyards by identifying the potential impacts of vitiforestry on a winegrower’s livelihood compared to monocultural vineyards. It focuses on the South West of France, a globally recognised winegrowing region that is at severe risk of losing land suitability for winegrowing under climate change (Moriondo et al., 2013). Insights from surveys and interviews with winegrowers, as well as from the literature, suggested that vitiforestry could enhance vineyard resilience in the context of climate change. Vitiforestry was found to provide a range of ecosystem services that monoculture systems do not, such as natural pest control, water management and microclimate regulation. However, there are economic and social barriers that must be overcome to facilitate its widespread adoption. Results showed that vitiforestry is more expensive than monoculture due to the high implementation costs. Nonetheless, vitiforestry winegrowers could sell their trees’ products and apply for subsidies to increase their short-term revenues. Finally, survey responses showed that winegrowers perceive climate change as a serious threat to their grape production. Most respondents were aware of vitiforestry and expressed interest in adopting it if sufficient evidence of its benefits for a vineyard’s ecological resilience is provided. Therefore, to support the adoption of vitiforestry at a larger scale, more financial and social incentives must be initiated. This can be achieved by creating spaces for knowledge-sharing, developing more efficient government subsidies and boosting demand for vitiforestry wines on the market.