Beans, tomatoes, onions, and peppers are grown in small vegetable gardens, and coffee is raised as a cash crop. Most of the farmers also raise some livestock. Agricultural work, such as sowing, weeding, and harvesting, is shared equally by the men and women. Additional responsibilities for the men include hunting, fishing, and clearing land. The women's duties involve caring for the small vegetable gardens, tending to the chickens, trading in the local markets, and doing some fishing.
Boys tend to the livestock, which are usually cattle and goats.
Cows are considered very valuable animals, not for their milk, but as religious sacrifices. The Kissi live in small, self-governing villages that are tucked inside groves of mango or kola trees. Each village is compact, containing no more than about 150 people. Houses are usually raised slightly above the ground and are round with mud walls, cone-shaped thatch roofs, verandahs. In the center of the village is a public square with a dwelling place for the village headman.