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Agriculture is Togo's chief economic activity, engaged in by about 60% of the workforce. The principal food crops are cassava, millet, corn, rice, sorghum, pulses, and yams. The leading cash crops are coffee, cocoa, and palm products (raised mainly on plantations in the south) and cotton and peanuts (grown in the north). Sheep, goats, hogs, and cattle are raised, and fishing is important. Large-scale mining of phosphate deposits at AkoumapE (in the southeast) began in 1963 and is now Togo's most important industry. Small quantities of chromite, bauxite, limestone, and iron ore are also mined, and marble is quarried. The country's few manufactures consist mainly of basic consumer goods such as foodstuffs, beverages, clothing, footwear, and furniture. Processed phosphates, cement, and handicrafts are also important. Attempts to implement economic reform in the 1980s and 90s, including increasing privatization and foreign investment, have met with limited success.
A hydroelectric plant completed in 1988 on the Mono River was a collaborative effort between Togo and Benin. Togo's limited road and rail transportation facilities are concentrated in the central and southern parts of the country; LomE is the main port. The cost of Togo's imports is usually much higher than its earnings from export sales. The main imports are machinery, manufactured consumer goods, and petroleum products; the leading exports are phosphates, cotton, cocoa, and coffee. The principal trade partners are Ghana, China, France, and Canada. Togo is a member of the Franc Zone.
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