Madagascar in the 1890s. They also occasionally grow manioc. The dry season is used to cut new corn fields, which are burned in October (swidden agriculture, locally termed hatsaky) and planted in November and December as the rains begin to fall. This corn is harvested three months later and consumed during the wet season; surplus is dried and sold, with some saved for the following year's planting and consumption. The traders who gather the maize from the Mikea process it for international export at a significant profit. The Mikea live in a symbiotic relationship with the neighboring Masikoro farmers and herders, and the Vezo fishing clan. The Mikea live primarily on food scavenged from the forest but also grow seasonal crops. Their mobility and reliance on scavenging as opposed to crop growing shifts in response to changes in environmental and economic pressures on availability of resources within the Mikea community as well as those of their Vezo and Masikoro neighbors. The Mikea sell their forest products, as well as woven mats and food animals they raise, at weekly Vezo and Masikoro markets in nearby villages to obtain the necessities they cannot scavenge, such as clothing and medicine. Some Mikea migrate for periods of time to work in local villages or the town of Morombe. They are also hired to work for Vezo and Masikoro villagers, such as by cutting forest for villagers or other Mikeas' corn fields, or guarding villagers' zebu herds. They occasionally acquire one or more zebu in addition to or in lieu of payment, as these are seen as a form of wealth and are mainly sacrificed in ancestral ceremonies rather than eaten as food. The rainy season is the time when Mikea are most likely to leave their scavenging encampments for wage labor opportunities in villages or for the corn harvest. This is also the time when Masikoro and Vezo villagers are most likely to move into the forest to grow corn. Notes Bibliography Vazimba Ethnic groups in Madagascar