Staple crops include millet, rice, and peanuts. Cattle herds, along with sheep and goats, are the primary livestock. The cattle are not the usual Fulani humped breed, but a native Fouta Djalon breed called Ndama , which is resistant to the disease-carrying tsetse fly. There are clear labor divisions among the Futa Jalon. The men are responsible for herding the cattle, while the women milk the herds.
Women also tend to other small livestock in addition to their garden work.
The women often carry containers of milk and cheese to local markets to sell or trade. Futa Jalon girls remain with their mothers until they marry. However, once a young man reaches puberty he leaves the family farm to prepare a home for his future family. A man's first marriage is usually arranged by his father, and the groom must offer bride-services to his wife's family by helping her father with his livestock. First marriages often take place in the man's early twenties.