What is the History of subsistence agriculture?

Subsistence farming, which today exists most commonly throughout areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of South and Central America, is an extension of primitive foraging practiced by early civilizations. Historically, most early farmers engaged in some form of subsistence farming to survive. Within early foraging communities, like hunter-gatherer societies, small communities consumed only what was hunted or gathered by members of the community. As the domestication of certain plants and animals evolved, a more advanced subsistence agricultural society developed in which communities practiced small-scale, low-intensity farming to produce an efficient amount of goods to meet the basic consumption needs of the community.

Historically, successful subsistence farming systems often shared similar structural traits. These included equal access to land plots for community members as well as a minimum expenditure of agricultural labor to produce subsistence amounts of food. Over time, the loss of such freedoms forced many subsistence farmers to abandon their traditional ways. In early twentieth-century Kenya, a lack of land access due to the commercialization of certain farmland plots by British colonists forced Kenyan communities toward commercial farming. Consistent surpluses, like those experienced by nineteenth century South Africa and sixteenth century Japan, also encouraged commercialized production and allowed farmers to expend more amounts of agricultural labor on certain produce goods that were strictly intended for trade.

Though forms of subsistence farming are believed to have been practiced by most early civilizations worldwide, over time, as population densities rose and intensive farming methods developed, the movement toward commercial farming and industrialization became more prominent. For countries like Botswana, Bolivia, Rwanda,Sierra Leone, Zambia, Mexico, and Vietnam, however, subsistence farming continues to be a way of life far into the twenty-first century.