Intensive Subsistence Farming Other than Wet Rice

Intensive Subsistence with Wet Rice Dominant

Intensive Subsistence- Vietnam

Agriculture counts for roughly 21% of Vietnam's GDP( Gross Domestic Product) as dominated mostly by rice farming. Vietnamese rice farmers typically own large plots of inherited land passed down for generations, but only make about $5(USD) a day. Rice has to be grown in water and because of this much of the lowlands of Vietnam has been flooded to support rice farming. Referred to as a rice paddy, one paddy yields about 20 pounds of rice that can sell for about $50. 

While in Vietnam, I definitely saw many rice paddies throughout the country side. However, agriculture is slowly diminishing in Vietnam so there were a lot of overgrown, abandoned rice paddies as well.

Shifting Cultivation- Mozambique

Shifting Cultivation-Mozambique

A large majority of agricultural production in Mozambique is based off of shifting cultivation methods. Shifting cultivation is sometimes referred to as slash-and-burn but it is not always the case. In Mozambique farmers plant one crop per year and after the harvest they move areas to allow the soil to replenish its nutrients and start all over.

Most farmers hand plow their fields and hand pick the crops as well. Agricultural technology is very rare in Mozambique and because of this large amounts of workers are needed to tend the fields. Farming is practiced by roughly 80% of the country and it being the largest source of income, however, most farmers live well below the poverty level. While I was there you could definitely see just how poor these people are just by looking at their homes. Most were built out of mud and thatch, similar to the tribal huts of the Koi Sahn tribe.


The number one crop that is grown on the farms is typically corn, with some variation of wheat, or cassava root. Life on the farm is rough. Generally farm hands put in 12 hours a day with little over 35 cents a week in income.

Pastoral Nomadism- Mongolia

Pastoral Nomadism- Mongolia

For three-thousand years the Mongolian people have adopted a pastoral life constantly moving in the search of the best pastures and campsites. A little more than half of Mongolia's population is still roaming the vast steppes of Mongolia to this day

Mongolia is known as the land of the horse. Mongolian horses have a short stature countered with an incredibly hearty resilience. Almost all nomads can ride a horse as well as they can walk and run. Also from their very first steps, they are taught how to ride a horse due to the horses important impact on their lifestyle. The horse provides a source of food for the nomads, but not with their meat, but rather with their milk. The nomads take the milk and make it into a slightly alcoholic beverage. They also use the milk to make various cheeses, and curds. Typically the nomads raise cattle, sheep, and goats along with horses. The cows provide meat, leather, and milk. The sheep provide wool ant meat. Lastly the goats provide skin for tents, milk, and meat. Goats are the most difficult to raise but they are extremely useful and appreciated for their meat and kashmere, which is goats down. 

Nomadic families usually move about 50 to 100 kilometers a year depending on rainfall. The amount of rainfall is crucial to Mongolian nomads because it determines how long a family will stay in one spot. If there is little rainfall vegetation growth will be slow so the family will move to a different spot much farther away where there is a better chance of fresh vegetation. If there is a lot of rainfall the family will move a shorter distance because vegetation will be abundant in the same area.