In this paper I summarize the conclusions from a series of three consultations that I have organized with leading agricultural, environmental and health scientists, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, to explore the constraints on sustainable growth in agricultural production (Ruttan, 1989, 1990a, b). I explore a number of agricultural, resource, environmental and health concerns that will condition the capacity of the agricultural sector to respond to the demands that population and income growth will place on the sector, particularly in the developing countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa. Before doing so however, I would like to place these concerns about the implications of natural resource availability and environmental change within a broader historical context.
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