“Climate change is the least of my worries”: stress limitations on adaptive capacity

Abstract

The wine industry in southern Australia faces potential threats from climate change. This article examines how grape growers in this region perceive and prioritize climate change adaptation as an issue for their industry. Analysis of a survey of 50 growers reveals themes contributing to stress and worry overshadow planning for climate change. Growers are constrained by current economic, social and environmental stresses, not climate change. We relate these findings and the literature on stress to the adaptive capacity and general wellbeing of individual farmers. Projected future climate change means stress in the farming community is likely to worsen and practitioners working with farmers need to recognize the complex causes of stress, in addition to the practical need to facilitate climate change adaptation. A useful approach is to understand both the types and causes of stress, and the way individuals cope.

Keywords:

• coping
• climate change adaptation
• rural stress
• rural sustainability
• Australian wine industry

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Emily Mendham for her work in producing the survey. Thanks to Cindy Gallois, Nadine Marshall and Emma Jakku. Thanks also to the many internal and external reviewer comments. Special thanks go to wineries for facilitating contacts with grape growers and all of the farmers who participated in the survey. This research was conducted under the CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship.