乡民指以农业为职业的人，其中包括以种植业、畜牧业、林业等自然经济产业为职业的人，又有称牧民、渔民等。

乡民则是指世代定居于乡村地区的居民。乡民未必以农业为职业，不过大都以家庭（户）为单位，具有生产粮食与满足自我食用需求的能力，但在其他生活方面却须仰赖外在的大环境，特别是在安全保障的需要上。由于如此，乡民们的生活圈往往自成一体，但属于外在大社会的一个部份，一般称此独立却又依赖的生活群体为乡民社会。

在12000年前农业开始发展，而漫长的古代社会史，民众大都从事农业。工业革命后，随着工业化，人口开始向城市转移。近代城市化进程，使得更多的人口从土地上脱离出来。

A farmer (also called an agriculturer) is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a labourer on land owned by others, but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a farm owner, while employees of the farm are known as farm workers, or farmhands. However, in the not so distant past a farmer was a person who promotes or improves the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention, land or crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish).