Skills & competences

Description

Subsistence farmers, fishers, hunters and gatherers grow and harvest field or tree and shrub crops, vegetables and fruit; gather wild fruits, medicinal and other plants; tend or hunt animals; 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. Competent performance in most occupations in this sub-major group requires skills at the second ISCO skill level.
Tasks performed by workers in this sub-major group 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; hunting or trapping animals; catching fish and gathering other forms of aquatic life; 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.
Occupations in this sub-major group are classified into the following minor groups:
631 Subsistence Crop Farmers
632 Subsistence Livestock Farmers
633 Subsistence Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmers
634 Subsistence Fishers, Hunters, Trappers and Gatherers
Notes
Jobs should be classified in Sub-major Group 63: Subsistence Farmers, Fishers, Hunters and Gatherers when goods (mostly food) are produced mainly for own consumption or for consumption by other members of the worker’s household. If a large surplus is produced, and more goods are sold than consumed, but the main aim of production was for own consumption, the jobs should nevertheless be classified in Sub-major Group 63. Jobs should only be classified in Sub-major Group 61: Market-oriented Skilled Agricultural Workers, or 62: Market-oriented Skilled Forestry, Fishery and Hunting Workers, if the main aim of the activity is to produce goods for the market.
Jobs are also classified in Sub-major Group 63 when goods are produced only for own consumption or for consumption by members of the worker’s household, and no cash income or bartering is involved.