T he clock is ticking for what many believe to be inevitable – dry taps. Whilst it is still too early to determine the exact impact of the ongoing drought on the province’s economy, the outlook is pretty pessimistic. Francois Viljoen, consultation service manager for the wine industry organisation Vinpro, says early estimates indicate an even smaller harvest than was initially estimated at the end of last year. With major dam levels now below 30% compared to 41.6% in 2017, Cape Town is almost sure to run dry. While residents will be able to queue for water, the impact on agriculture and business remains in question. The situation, said Viljoen, could have a massive impact on the wine sector, not to mention the economy at large. Most producers, he said, depended on irrigation water from the various irrigation schemes that had been rationed since early in the 2017 growing season. Water quotas have been cut by 50-80%. “This available water is simply not enough to meet the needs of the vineyards at this stage,” said Viljoen. “Vineyards are now beginning to show symptoms of water shortage and declining berry growth. Smaller berries mean a lighter harvest with lower juice levels which contributes to lower volumes.” The lack of rain, shrinking water supplies, and continual hot days could further reduce the 2018 crop. The South African wine industry is the ninth largest producer of wine in the world and contributes 4% to global production. South Africa exports 440 million litres of wine annually and sells 400 million litres locally. There is no doubt the drought will have a significant impact on exports in the year to come, said Denan Kuni, head of international trade and development at Wesgro. “Wesgro will be working with exporters to give them increased access to historical markets like the US and new markets like Poland and the Czech Republic,” he said as part of ongoing efforts to support exporters through the crisis. In the meantime, residents have been restricted to only 50 litres of water per day since February 1 while businesses have been urged to decrease water usage even more. In light of the drought the province’s reliance on agroprocessing is worrying, Mike Walwyn, chairman of the Cape’s Port Liaison Forum (PLF), told FTW. “The general industry outlook for the province at this point is not very positive and the water crisis is a major concern.” He said the impact of politics on local and provincial government, both of which had been well run for some time, was further compounding the issue.
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