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What types of farming are included in subsistence agriculture?

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A row of cattle with brown and black coats eat feed from a long trough in a South African feedlot, separated by wooden fencing. — Feed Feedlot cattle eating grain in an intensive animal farm in South Africa.

Subsistence agriculture is a system of farming primarily designed to maintain the farmer and their family, typically leaving little to no surplus for sale or trade. It is generally categorized into two main approaches based on the intensity of land use and technology:12

Less Mechanized Techniques

These methods are often practiced by marginal communities and involve the periodic abandonment of land to allow the soil or forage to rejuvenate. Key types include:2
* Slash-and-burn cultivation: A practice where vegetation is cut and burned to clear land for crops.2
* Shifting agriculture: A system where farmers move from site to site as they exhaust the soil or livestock forage at a specific location.2
* Nomadic pastoralism: A form of herding where societies move cyclically to follow water and forage for their animals.23

Intensive Subsistence Farming

In contrast to less mechanized systems, intensive subsistence farming typically does not leave land fallow. Instead, it employs practices such as double or continuous cropping to maximize output per unit of arable land. While more advanced than shifting cultivation, it still relies on minimal equipment and locally available resources.2