ABSTRACT
Most of the earlier debates on sustainability emphasised physical rather than human issues. For example, negative manifestations of degradation of the rural environment, associated with agricultural and other production systems, enlargement of farms, declining farm numbers and the contraction of country towns, were attributed to the single-minded pursuit of productivity and efficiency in agriculture. In the wake of the predominance of monodimensional bio-technical views, the arguments of more people-oriented social scientists have taken a broader view in suggesting that more attention be given to linking sustainable production to sustainable community development, where farm and nonfarm groups can both contribute to the strengthening of the social fabric of the countryside (Lawrence and Stehlik 1996).
