Rice farmers prepare their field for planting by using zebu (cattle) to soften the muddy earth so the young rice shoots will take hold deeper in the soil. This is an ancient Malagasy tradition called magnosy.

Local people plant rice in flooded fields. Rice is sacred and an essential part of one's daily nutrition. For the Malagasy, rice represents life.

These young girls, ages 11-13, use a paste made from the tsiambara plant's roots to beautify their skin. They usually leave it on for 5 days and keep on redoing the process except on market days. The meaning of this process is called "I don't want to show you".

A lack of rain in southeast Madagascar has led to food shortages and increased desertification of these formerly productive lands. Dry cisterns and water holes contribute to the problem. UK NGO Azafady is building new wells and water points for these communities.

In the middle of the forest, a crew of independent coal producers prepare another mound for burning and cooking wood into coal. This activity is a serious problem for the forest and is part of the problem of unabated tree cutting and forest reduction.

Independent coal producers carry bags of coal that were just created from recently chopped down trees, further depleting the land of its forest resources. This unabated tree cutting, while sustaining the lives of its people, is a serious problem for the forest that will impact the lives of Madagascar's indigenous people, as well as the world.

This burial stone setting commemoration is called tsangambato. Men of the family of an older woman who recently died, parade a giant piece of granite from their village to their ancestral burial grounds, where they erect the stone in the earth.

In the fishing village of Sainte Luce, fishermen return with their early morning catches of mostly lobsters and assorted fish. The lobsters are for export to the European market. With the lobster and fish catches reduced, the fishermen have to go farther out to sea then they have traditionally. This has made their work more dangerous and reflects a growing threat to their livelihoods.

One of many water collection points that provide clean water for residents of the poor neighborhoods of Fort Dauphin.

Tavy, or burning of the forest to clear for planting, is illegal but local farmers continue to do this despite the massive reductions of their forests. This tavy is in Analavinaky.

Men work on a brick kiln in Anosibe. This is a very inefficient use of wood, which is the main source of fuel for burning the clay to make the bricks.