Primary Activities: Hunting, Gathering & Pastoralism

Economic activities are those human activities that generate income. Economic activities are categorised into four broad groups – primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary activities. Hunting, Gathering & Pastoralism talks on horticulture, pisciculture, agriculture, and mining. Amongst these economic activities, primary activities are directly dependent on environmental resources. 

Collar colour is a term that is commonly used to denote a working individual’s profession. For example, red collar workers are government employees, whereas white collar workers refer to office workers. Similarly, people who partake in primary activities like hunting, gathering, and pastoralism are called blue collar workers.  

Hunting Gathering 

Hunting 

Hunting is a primary activity that refers to chasing or searching for wild animals to kill or catch them. Hunting is an activity on which most primitive societies depend for sustenance and clothing. While once hunting was meant to put food on the table, however, it soon became exploitative and even led to the extinction and endangerment of hundreds of species of animals. 

Gathering 

Gathering refers to a primary activity in which “gatherers” gather food and other resources for their sustenance. Primitive civilizations would look for wild fruits, edible plants, and dry leaves and branches while gathering. 

Features of a Hunting Gathering Society 

• Hunting and gathering are the oldest examples of economic activities known to mankind
• While people who lived in extremely hot and extremely cold climate zones would resort to hunting, it was observed that people who lived in harsh climatic conditions preferred gathering overhunting
• Hunting requires some level of expertise. Primitive hunters made tools and traps from stones and wood
• Gathering, on the other hand, is not very technical. However, it does require a good understanding of native flora and fauna
• Gathering doesn’t require a lot of capital investment and has a low yield per person. Very little to no surplus is produced
• Gathering is most commonly practised in northern Canada, interiors of southeast Asia, northern Eurasia, tropical Africa, and southern Chile
• The modern-day gathering has become commercial and is more market-oriented. Often, gatherers collect valuable medicinal plants and bark of trees, process them, and sell them in the market

Pastoralism 

Pastoralism is animal husbandry in which domesticated animals are reared onto large outdoor lands (or pastures) for grazing. Pastoralism was historically performed by nomadic people and still gets performed in different variations around the globe. Pastoralism is practised either at a commercial level or for subsistence. 

Pastoralism remains a source of livelihood for many communities living in the Tibetan plateau, the Andes, the Eurasian steppes, and other areas where crop growing is difficult due to environmental characteristics like extreme temperatures, poor soil quality, and lack of water. 

Nomadic Herding 

Nomadic herding is known to be the simplest form of pastoralism. Nomadic herding is performed to produce food for the family and clothing and shelter. Nomadic herders prefer herding sheep, cattle, horses, camels, goats, and other similar animals. 

Nomadic herding is currently practised in sparsely populated areas, like central parts of Asia and southwestern Asia, northern Canada, northern areas of several Scandinavian countries, and many African countries like Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Libya, and Algeria.  Nomadic herding is popular in these areas due to the unavailability of water and harsh climatic conditions. 

The nomads are experienced in searching for pastures. They search for pasture that covers either a vast horizontal distance or is done vertically in mountainous regions. In mountainous regions, the nomads would travel from one elevation to another looking for pastures. 

Since nomadic herding is practised in areas with extreme climatic conditions, nomadic herders move their livestock in a seasonal cycle. Transhumance is moving livestock from the pastures to the mountains during summers and from the mountains to the plains during winters. During the winters in the Himalayas, nomadic tribes like the Gujjars, Bhotias, and Gaddis practice transhumance. 

Nomadic herding and pastoralism are negatively impacted by harsh weather conditions brought by climate change and global warming. Nomadic tribes are also fewer because of the imposition of political boundaries and unfavourable settlement plans by different countries. 

Commercial Livestock rearing 

While nomadic herding is practised for subsistence, commercial livestock rearing is organised and capital-intensive pastoralism. Commercial livestock rearing is associated with western cultures and is popularly practised in New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America, Uruguay, and Argentina. 

Commercial livestock rearing is organised on a scientific basis and focuses on the healthcare of animals, genetic improvement, disease control, and breeding. In commercial livestock rearing, farmers don’t look for pastures. Grazing is done on private ranches that cover large areas. The ranches are divided into small parcels; therefore, when the grass in one parcel is grazed, then the animals are moved to another parcel. 

The parcels are fenced to regulate grazing, and the number of animals is under the carrying capacity of the pasture. Sheep, cattle, goats, and horses are animals commonly associated with this form of rearing. As the name suggests, animals in commercial livestock rearing are raised for commercial purposes like procuring meat and wool.

Conclusion: 

Basically, Economic activities are human activities that generate income. Primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary economic activities are broadly classified. Primary activities are directly related to the environment because they involve the use of earth’s resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials, and minerals. Hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying are all included.