ABSTRACT
Many of the key structural trends evident at the beginning of the Productivist Period were still evident at the start of the Divergent Period. Population levels continued to rise throughout the Productivist Period and had reached nearly 4 billion by 1974 (Sarre and Blunden 1995). However, by this time, population growth had become highly skewed, with very high levels of growth in developing countries, particularly in the tropics, and either relatively static or even negative population growth rates in many developed countries. In 1974, the population growth rate in developed countries was approximately 0.75%, compared to approximately 2.5% in developing countries (Islam 1995). By the start of the Divergent Period, 37.8% (UN Habitat 2004) of the world’s population was urbanised and severely limited with respect to food production and/or collection opportunities. Industrial principles of agricultural production and management had deepened significantly and the use of industrial inputs, particularly pesticides, over much of the developed and developing world had become relatively prophylactic. The urban-centred industrial agro-food system had become institutionalised as ‘the’ model for food production, processing, distribution and consumption over most of the globe. However, across developed countries, concerns had grown regarding the impacts of productivist agriculture on: food surpluses; the environment; food quality and safety and human health.
