Subsistence agriculture

Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level.

Subsistence agriculture (also known as self sufficiency in terms of agriculture) is a method of horticulture in which a plot of land produces only enough food to feed the family working it. Subsistence agriculture usually refers to a farm that is enough to feed the family but will not be enough for the family to trade at a [[market].It is practiced in overpopulated land hungry areas where there is poverty and not enough means for making a livelihood.

Depending on climate, soil conditions, agricultural practices, and the crops grown, it generally requires between 1,000 and 40,000 m² (between 0.25 and 10 acres) per person.

Effects on the environment

Subsistence agriculture is frequently organic, often simply for lack of money to buy industrial inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, farm machinery, and genetically modified seeds. It is not necessarily beneficial for the environment.

One form of subsistence agriculture is shifting cultivation, a practice common in the tropics. In this agricultural system, farmers typically abandon a given plot when soil fertility wanes and move on to more fertile land, often utilizing slash and burn techniques. A considerable fallow period ensues on the abandoned land.

Impact

Numerous tropical countries have acknowledged the adverse impacts of subsistence agriculture on biological resources; in many cases these agricultural practices, along with unlimited access rights to forests, have been the target of limitations through the countries' Biodiversity Action Plans. In the case of underdeveloped countries which are overpopulated, many indigenous peoples have little agriculture.

Opposite

• Commercial agriculture
• Cash crop

References

Tony Waters. The Persistence of Subsistence Agriculture: life beneath the level of the marketplace. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2007.