Subsistence agriculture

About: Subsistence agriculture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8069 publications have been published within this topic receiving 156876 citations. The topic is also known as: subsistence farming.

Agricultural organization and fertility: A comparison of two Philippine Frontier communities

Abstract: The effect of agricultural organization on fertility is examined by a cross‐sectional analysis of data from two rural Philippine communities. Largely settled after World War II, both communities began traditional subsistence farming. Over time one community has turned to commercial farming. Contrary to expectations, no substantial differences between the two communities are found in fertility levels or in the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility. Status is negatively related to fertility in both communities, and most of its effect is through age at marriage. In the community which has developed commercial agriculture, status affects fertility after marriage, but then only slightly.

Food and cash: understanding the role of the retail sector in rural food security in South Africa

Abstract: A decline in subsistence agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa has meant an increased role for the private sector in food security strategies, but this role remains a relatively blind spot in food policy. We address this gap by analyzing retailers and consumers in a rural region of South Africa. Our results show that purchasing food is an important food security strategy for the rural poor, but is constrained by a lack of access to income. Furthermore, a reliance on specific non-perishable foodstuffs impacts the micronutrients that the poorest can access if they are unable to grow their own fresh produce. Adaptive food policy thus requires a holistic appreciation of the food system - emphasizing production as well as building livelihoods outside of agriculture.

An Early Subsistence Exchange System in the Moche Valley, Peru

Abstract: Technologically, the Initial Period in Peru began with the introduction of pottery and the change from twined to woven textile production. Within the Moche Valley, it was the time when a complex settlement first appeared in the valley interior — a relocation correlated with the beginnings of irrigation agriculture. This critical point in the process of adaptation to irrigation agriculture is explored through an examination of subsistence data from two sites: the Initial Period (1800-1400 B.C.) site of Gramalote on the coast and the Initial Period and Early Horizon (1400-400 B.C.) settlement of Caballo Muerto located well inland. Evidence from Caballo Muerto suggests that the shift from floodwater to irrigation agriculture was complete, yet the inland site still relied heavily on animal protein from Gramalote on the coast. Taken together, the two early ceramic sites form an economic unit which, when explored, reveals several important aspects of the transition from an exclusively coastal orientatio...

Adaptive capacity of small-scale coffee farmers to climate change impacts in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract: This paper identifies conditions of social vulnerability and climate-related disaster risk in the Huehuetan River basin, Chiapas, Mexico and analyses the capacity of small coffee producers to adapt to hydrometeorological hazards. Small-scale farmers in the basin use various strategies to adapt to the impacts of such hazards and to confront the deterioration of their livelihoods, including diversifying the varieties of coffee they cultivate, diversifying their sources of income, and emigration. Analysis of these strategies suggests that high levels of poverty, coffee monoculture, food insecurity, and instability in sources of employment and income combine to limit the flexibility and stability of population's adaptive capacity. The strategies employed by local people have allowed for short-term subsistence but offer little chance of long-term sustainability. Conditions do not appear to reduce social vulnerability and, in fact, undermine local resilience that would reduce damage and risks from extreme clima...