More than three-fourths of its workers farm or herd livestock for a living. Millet, rice, and sorghum are the main food crops. Other food crops include cassava, corn, and yams. Cotton, peanuts, and sugar cane are important cash crops. Nomads raise large herds of cattle, goats, and sheep.
Fishing is also an important economic activity.
The largest catches are carp, catfish, and perch. The fish come mainly from the Bani and Niger rivers and Lake Debo. Service industries, such as government, tourism, and wholesale and retail trade, employ about 15 percent of Mali's labor force. Most of these people work in Bamako and other urban areas. Manufacturing provides jobs for about 10 percent of the workers.