Although eighty-five percent of Madagascar’s population grows rice or raises cattle, it has a diverse economy. Traditionally, the people would use a method of farming called tavy. Burning the field to clear it of brush, they then would plant rice or corn for two to three years until the soil was exhausted. Tavy is illegal toady. It takes the land ten to twenty years to recover from the tavy process. While Madagascar used to be the world’s largest supplier of vanilla, sales have steeply declined due to artificial flavoring. Madagascar’s fishing is underdeveloped, although some people raise trout to eat in their rice paddies. There are about the same amount of people and zebu, a type of cattle, on Madagascar. Zebu have spiritual significance to the people, so the cattle industry has not prospered. Madagascar is abundant in semiprecious gems, but their main use is to be sold by natives to tourists as souvenirs. On some of Madagascar's beaches, there are so many crushed garnets in the sand that the beaches are a glittering red. Madagascar’s current currency, which is the Malagasy Franc, takes about 6,832 to equal one United States dollar. The eastern and northwestern parts of Madagascar have rich soil, causing Madagascar’s economy to be mainly agricultural.
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| Rice Paddies | A Zebu |
Malagasy Franc |
