Subsistence farming is a dirty business.
For many or most subsistence farmers, the activity consumes more calories than it produces.
The lack of scale makes mechanization unviable, so subsistence farming is structurally less efficient than scaled-up farming.
Subsistence farming is exposed to climate change and unpredictable weather due to a lack of irrigation.
Subsistence farming is often limited to certain times of the year due to its inability to manage inputs including water.
Subsistence farming cannot easily store or preserve its output, so any market value is short-lived.
Subsistence farming cannot easily pack and / or process its output to add value or to access more lucrative markets.
Subsistence farming can only sell locally, and at the spot price. Farmers directly compete with their neighbours, in the same market at the same time.
Subsistence farmers are continuously at physical risk from accidents and wear and tear.
Subsistence farmers often have no legal title to their land and few means of getting one.
Subsistence farming produces little or no reliable excess so farmers cannot create capital as a wealth store or to leverage it.
Most subsistence farmers struggle to break out of this cycle. Potential solutions struggle to break into this market.
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