Environmental factors such as rainfall and vegetation influenced the economies and settlement patterns of the precolonial inhabitants of Southern...

Factors such as climate and suitability for agriculture
were primary considerations in the development of all early settlements in all areas of
the world, not just in southern Africa. As wandering groups of people began to develop
techniques of farming that would allow them to cease being hunter-gatherers in order to
find food, they learned that certain types of conditions were needed to support this new
lifestyle. They needed to locate in areas that had adequate precipitation to allow crops
to grow. They needed to have soil that could be worked and planted - and the indication
of this was the native plant growth of an area. When the people found an area meeting
these requirements, they settled and began developing their areas for crops and living.
Trading economies began to develop when different crops were harvested and bartered for
other needed goods or when services were provided in return for
food.