Towards the Reconstruction of Agriculture: Paths of Change and Adjustment∗

∗The author would like to acknowledge the financial support from the British Columbia Science Council's Sustainable Communities Initiative. I would also like to thank Nancy Cashman for research assistance, Ray Squirrell for graphics, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments.

This paper provides both retrospective and prospective insights into the processes of agricultural change. It begins with an analysis of structural change in Canadian agriculture and goes on to interpret these changes within the context of a number of contemporary theories and models of agricultural development and restructuring. It is clear from this discussion that there is no unified pattern of change or response to uncertainty. Instead there is a multiplicity of strategies which are formulated on the basis of complex farm-based and external factors. Since agricultural policy has played such a significant role in shaping much of the sector today, it is argued that society has the potential to create new opportunities and development paths which fulfill many of the criteria for sustainable food and rural systems.

Key Words:

• structural change
• development models
• sustainable agriculture

Notes

∗The author would like to acknowledge the financial support from the British Columbia Science Council's Sustainable Communities Initiative. I would also like to thank Nancy Cashman for research assistance, Ray Squirrell for graphics, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments.