Economy on Marie Galante : Discover

Discover Marie Galante : Economy

Economy

Sugarcane is the island’s primary resource, similarly to Guadeloupe’s Grand Terre. Marie Galante was already quite well-known for its sugar and rum in the 18th century, when it prided in disposing of 72 sugar-mills, each belonging to an independent family exploitation.

This old technology was replaced in the middle of the 19th century by four large factories, installed in the centre of the sugarcane plantations: Grande Anse, Robert, Pirogue and Dorot, of which only Grand Anse is still in activity today. Three distilleries out of ten remain to our days, which produce rum of exceptional quality and worldwide fame. Marie Galante’s agricultural rum is the only one with a strength of 59% in commercial circulation in the French West Indies.

The cultivation of other crops, once a flourishing business (indigo, cotton, tobacco, coffee, cocoa) has completely disappeared to our days. A certain number of foodstuffs remain, such as manioc, ignames (a special type of root), beans and Angola peas. Cattle graze in the grassy savannahs, and traditional fishing is also an important element of local culture. The sea is rich in a variety of species of delicious fish, among which the most popular ones are mahi-mahis, tunas, bonitos, rays, snappers, lambis and crayfish.

Breeding has long been a tradition on this island, rural habits are not lost to our days, and the sight of stray animals on the roadside adds a unique charm to Marie Galante’s landscapes.
Cattle and goats linger in the savannah, the main road or in the cane fields, chickens wander about in perfect freedom around houses and in village centres. Men and oxen are bound by endless years of complicity and training, and the animals are part of everyday life and routines: they toil the earth, pull the chariots at carnivals and weddings, and draw the “kabwett” of sugarcane.