Subsistence mixed crop and livestock farmers grow and harvest field or tree and shrub crops, vegetables and fruit, gather wild fruits, medicinal and other plants, tend or hunt animals, and/or catch fish and gather various forms of aquatic life in order to provide food, shelter and, in some cases, a minimum of cash income for themselves and their households.
Tasks performed usually include: preparing the soil, sowing, planting, tending and harvesting field crops; growing vegetables, fruit and other tree and shrub crops; gathering wild fruits, medicinal and other plants; breeding, tending and feeding animals and poultry mainly to obtain meat, eggs, milk, hair, skin or other products; fetching water and gathering firewood; storing produce for later use and carrying out some processing of produce; building and maintaining houses and other shelters; making tools, clothes and utensils for use by the household; selling or bartering some products at local markets.