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The economy of Madagascar is overwhelmingly agricultural, largely of a subsistence type; the best farmland is in the east and northwest. The principal cash crops are coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, and cocoa. The main food crops are rice, cassava, bananas, beans, and peanuts. In addition, large numbers of poultry, cattle, goats, sheep, and hogs are raised. Fishing and forestry are also important.
Manufactures are mostly confined to agricultural products, beverages, and textiles. There is also some oil refining and automobile assembly. The chief minerals extracted are chromite, graphite, coal, bauxite, salt, zircon, and industrial beryl and garnets. The state controls much of the economy. There is an extensive but degraded road system and only a very limited rail network. Toamasina and Mahajanga are the chief ports.
Madagascar carries on a relatively small foreign trade, and the annual value of imports is usually higher than the value of exports. The main imports are metals, machinery, petroleum, transport equipment, consumer goods, and food products. The leading exports are coffee, vanilla, cloves, sugar, shellfish, and petroleum products. The principal trade partners are France, Japan, Italy, and the United States. Madagascar relies heavily upon assistance from members of the European Union.
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