Answer to Question 1
Answer: Subsistence agricultural villages rely on their own food production and are likely to raise many food crops that they will mostly consume themselves. Agricultural polyculture is the practice of growing a variety of crops and farm animals. Even if one or two crops fail in a given season, the farmer will likely have enough food to last until the next harvest. Once subsistence farmers begin to trade food with other places, however, they dedicate more of their land and labor to the production of a smaller number of foods that can be exchanged more widely. We saw this pattern in Chapter 7, which described how remote villages will begin to specialize their economic activities as they become more dependent on trade. Farmers engaged in fully commercial agriculture often specialize in one or two crops for sale at market, using the money they earn to import other foods from elsewhere. Limiting production to just one crop or animal is agricultural monoculture.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: famines
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