Video narration
What connects the grain on your plate and the fish you eat? Both begin with work tied to land or water. That is the clue: primary activities depend directly on natural resources. They include farming, which grows crops and raises animals; fishing; forestry; livestock rearing; gathering and hunting; and mining, which takes minerals from the earth. The key is direct dependence on nature, not simply the product-and the work may be for personal use or for sale. When people work mainly to meet their own needs, that is subsistence. When they produce mainly to sell, it is commercial. The same broad activity can serve either purpose. Local conditions and available technology shape how people do it. So, what links grain and fish? Grain is grown, fish is caught, and minerals are extracted through work that uses nature directly. These are primary activities.