1,500 Malagasy were living the Mikea lifestyle, primarily around the Mikea Forest, an area that receives limited rainfall. This number was estimated at several hundred in the 1950s, suggesting a growth in population. The true number of people living from forest scavenging is difficult to estimate with accuracy, as the label "Mikea" is very flexible, and the degree of reliance on scavenging as opposed to seasonal farming can vary significantly at any given time depending on economic and environmental conditions. The Mikea are subject to social stigma linked to their image as primitive or uncivilized people. Housing and social organization among the Mikea can vary from one individual or community to the next. Some Mikea remain in the forest their entire lives, while others live part of their lives in villages or towns. While living in the forest, groups of Mikea typically move seasonally between encampments nearest to critical resources. In the rainy season, they often live in groups of 30-50 people near tracts of virgin forest in proximity to their newly cleared and planted corn fields. The houses in this settlement are square with peaked roofs, as elsewhere in Madagascar, and are typically made of thatch and bark on a wooden pole frame. These houses are loosely clustered with generous space between each lodging. The rainy season encampment serves for three to five years as a base for forest foraging before resource depletion requires a move to a new location. Those working the corn fields may live in simple grass shelters alongside their crops until April or May, when they return to the bark houses. During the dry season from May to October, the encampment splits into smaller groups that relocate deeper into the forest to settle near babo tuber patches, with dwellings limited to brush shelters and thatch sunshades, and some individuals not living in shelters at all. In both types of settlements furniture is nearly non-existent and Mikea typically sleep in the sand or pits dug at the base of giant termite mounds. The Mikea struggle to ensure the quality of life they seek. While the forest has long provided for their basic needs, deforestation and population growth are straining resources. In addition, Mikea are increasingly seeking to obtain better quality material goods for themselves, such as clothing, which necessitates greater engagement with the external economy through trade and wage labor to earn local currency. Lack of