subsistence economy: Economy in which production is principally for personal consumption.

Ref: http://www.elissetche.org/dico/S.htm

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2004-08-23 05:11:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A good explanation:
\"Subsistence economy
Originally all peoples on the earth lived in what we now call subsistence economies, described by Indian Eco-feminist Vandana Shiva as economies in which you \"satisfy basic needs through self-provisioning.\"1 Instead of relying on money, subsistence economies depend on the riches of the natural world. People grow food, fish, and hunt to satisfy hunger, they build their own houses from natural materials, and they drink from the rivers and streams. Because they live intimately with nature, people living in subsistence economies are more able to view the benefits of respecting nature instead of exploiting it. They harvest plants and eat animals but they also plant new seeds and encourage animals to reproduce. They create little waste and they produce only what they need for a given period instead of storing things up. A subsistence economy depends on nature to reproduce itself as well as human beings working in partnership with nature to ensure that plants, animals, and humans all survive. Within a subsistence economy, people value cooperation with nature and with each other.\"

Ref: http://www.unpac.ca/econsystems.html