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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.


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01 Apr 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the diversity, species composition and productivity of these homegardens are characterized, the factors that affect their dynamics are identified and the implications of these changes for agricultural sustainability are assessed.
Abstract: The agroforestry homegardens of the Southern Ethiopian highlands are dominated by the native perennial crops enset and coffee, and additionally include a large variety of staple food crops, vegetables and tree crops. This traditional subsistence agriculture is changing into a market-oriented agriculture with decreased diversity. In this dissertation the diversity, species composition and productivity of these homegardens are characterized, the factors that affect their dynamics are identified and the implications of these changes for agricultural sustainability are assessed. Each homegarden had on average 16 crop and 21 tree species with enset, coffee and maize being the most common crops. Four homegarden prototypes were distinguished. They differed not only in the share of crops, but also in composition of tree species. Variation among sites in both prototypes and crop species is large and is largely explained by geographical location and altitudinal differences. Also access to market and major roads was very important. Increasing commercialization and land pressure have lead to the decline in the areas of the perennials enset, coffee and trees and an increase of annual crops. This could adversely affect the ecological benefits derived from these integrated and complex systems and threaten their long- term sustainability. Research and development efforts should aim at developing techniques on how to integrate high value crops into the systems without affecting their integrity.

154 citations

Book
01 Jun 1991
TL;DR: The domestic economy and subsistence risk ancient households and their life cycle adaptive measures in the agricultural system structural constraints and the household vulnerability cycle response strategies to food shortage are discussed in this article.
Abstract: Introduction - the domestic economy and subsistence risk ancient households and their life cycle adaptive measures in the agricultural system structural constraints and the household vulnerability cycle response strategies to food shortage - household self-help systems "with a little help from my friends" - interpersonal risk-buffering behaviour the domestic economy and the dialectic of subsistence risk.

153 citations

BookDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Ricardian approach to examine the economic impact of climate change on agriculture in Zimbabwe using data from a survey of 700 smallholder farming households interviewed across the country.
Abstract: This study uses the Ricardian approach to examine the economic impact of climate change on agriculture in Zimbabwe. Net farm revenue is regressed against various climate, soil, hydrological and socio-economic variables to help determine the factors that influence variability in net farm revenues. The study is based on data from a survey of 700 smallholder farming households interviewed across the country. The empirical results show that climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) have significant effects on net farm revenues in Zimbabwe. In addition to the analysis of all farms, the study also analyzes the effects on dryland farms and farms with irrigation. The analysis indicates that net farm revenues are affected negatively by increases in temperature and positively by increases in precipitation. The results from sensitivity analysis suggest that agricultural production in Zimbabwe's smallholder farming system is significantly constrained by climatic factors (high temperature and low rainfall). The elasticity results show that the changes in net revenue are high for dryland farming compared to farms with irrigation. The results show that farms with irrigation are more resistant to changes in climate, indicating that irrigation is an important adaptation option to help reduce the impact of further changes in climate. An overview of farmer adaptation to changing climate indicates that farmers are already using some adaptation strategies-such as dry and early planting, growing drought resistant crops, changing planting dates, and using irrigation-to cushion themselves against further anticipated adverse climatic conditions. An important policy message from the empirical findings is that there is a need to provide adequate extension information services to ensure that farmers receive up-to-date information about rainfall patterns in the forthcoming season so that they make well-informed decisions on their planting dates. Policies that increase farmer training and access to credit and aid facilities and help farmers acquire livestock and other important farm assets can help improve net farm performance. Ensuring the availability and accessibility of fertilizers and crop seeds before the onset of the next cropping season can also significantly improve net farm performance across households.

153 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 2007-Oryx
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated attitudes of local people towards large predators and developed a novel index of tolerance by quantifying the number of livestock respondents would be willing to lose before killing the predator responsible.
Abstract: Where people and livestock live with predators there is often conflict that can lead to lethal control of predators. We evaluated attitudes of local people towards large predators and developed a novel index of tolerance by quantifying the number of livestock respondents would be willing to lose before killing the predator responsible. We interviewed 416 subsistence livestock farmers (community members) and commercial livestock ranchers in central Kenya. Commercial ranchers had more positive attitudes and higher tolerance than community members. Community members said their tolerance would increase if they were to derive income from ecotourism or trophy hunting. We found that community members with land title deeds were most tolerant of predators, stressing the importance of land security for conserva- tion efforts. Subsistence livestock farming is the primary land use throughout much of Africa and, as a result, identifying strategies to improve tolerance of predators under this land tenure system is of major conservation significance.

152 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023534
20221,101
2021279
2020268
2019297
2018303