The major economic activity in Madagascar is farming . Eighty percent of the agriculture production is carried out by small farming households. In addition, there are plantations located in the north and east coasts that provide Malagasy workers with jobs. There is also fishing industries located mostly in the northern coastal region. But there are many small family fishing industries prevalant all over the island.
Major exports are vanilla, coffee, meat and fish.
The main staple crops are rice, cassava, and manioc. It should be noted that while Malagasy farmers produce a large amount of rice, the country still imports a large amount of rice. Malagasy A mix between African languages such as Kiswahili and Indonesian languages such as Polynesian. There are however about 18 different tribal dialects. To find out more about tribal affliations, click on Culture .