Hunting and Food Gathering
The earliest human beings depended on their immediate environment for their sustenance.
They subsisted on: animals which they hunted; and the edible plants which they
gathered from forests in the vicinity.
Primitive societies depended on wild animals. People located in very cold and extremely hot
climates survived on hunting. The people in the coastal areas still catch fish though fishing
has experienced modernization due to technological development. Many species, now have
become extinct or endangered due to illegal hunting (poaching). The early hunters used
primitive tools made of stones, twigs or arrows so the number of animals killed was limited.
Gathering and hunting are the oldest economic activity known. These are carried out at
different levels with different orientations.
Gathering is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions. It often involves primitive
societies, who extract, both plants and animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter and
clothing. This type of activity requires a small amount of capital investment and operates at
very low level of technology. The yield per person is very low and little or no surplus is
produced.