A transformation in rural economies since the mid-1980s characterized by the production of food within an increasingly competitive international market; the progressive withdrawal of state subsidies for agriculture; reductions in food output; growing concerns over food quality; the growing environmental regulation of agriculture; and the creation of a more sustainable agricultural system. Wilson and Rigg (2003) PHG 27, 6 ask whether post-productivist notions can be applied to the developing world, concluding that the concept needs to be adapted and developed to address specific conditions in the rural South, whilst Holmes (2002) TIBG 27 judges that Australia’s rangelands are moving from a post-productivist agricultural occupancy to a multifunctional rural occupancy.

In the UK the Countryside Stewardship Scheme attempts to bring about a transformation from a positivist to a more post-positivist approach to agriculture. Amsted in L. Landmark and C. Sandstrom, eds (2013) takes issue with this concept.