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The economy of Niger is overwhelmingly agricultural, with about 90% of the workforce engaged in farming (largely of a subsistence type). The Hausa, Kanuri, and Songhai are mainly sedentary farmers, and the Fulani and Tuareg are principally nomadic and seminomadic pastoralists. The leading crops are millet, sorghum, cassava, cowpeas, peanuts, rice, cotton, and onions. Poultry, goats, cattle, sheep, and camels are raised.
Most of the country's few manufactures are basic consumer goods such as processed food, beverages, footwear, and radios. In addition, peanut oil, ginned cotton, chemicals, and construction materials (mainly bricks and cement) are produced. The mining of high-grade uranium ore began in the early 1970s at Arlit in the AIr Massif. Small quantities of cassiterite (tin ore), low-grade iron ore, phosphates, natron, salt, and coal also are extracted. Gold and petroleum deposits are being explored. There is a fishing industry in the Niger River and Lake Chad.
Niger has a very limited transportation network; there is no railroad, and most of the country's all-weather roads are confined to the south and southwest. A major road also runs N from Zinder, through Agadez (in the AIr Massif), and on into Algeria. Niger is landlocked and has only poor access to the sea.
The annual cost of Niger's imports usually is considerably higher than the value of its exports. The leading imports are textiles and clothing, machinery, cereals, motor vehicles, and petroleum products; the chief exports are uranium ore, livestock products, cowpeas, onions, and cotton. The principal trade partners are European nations (especially France), Nigeria, and Japan. Niger is part of the Franc Zone.
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