Such crops as beans, cassava, millet, peas, rice, and sorghum are grown for food. Farmers raise cattle, oxen, goats, and camels for food, export, and transport. Poor transportation has hampered economic development in Niger. The country has no railroads, and most of its roads are not paved. Few Nigeriens own an automobile.
Trucks carry freight, and people get around by buses or on foot.
Niamey has an international airport. Niger has one daily newspaper. The government controls all communications media in the country. About A.D. 1000, Tuareg people began moving south from the middle of the Sahara into what is now Niger. They eventually controlled the trade routes across the desert and south to the coast.