Raffia, a word of Malagasy origin, refers to the palm tree and the fiber extracted from the plant. The palm is among the endemic species in Madagascar and the most useful by its fibers and its fruits.
The raffia is a large palm tree 15 to 20 m high that grows along streams, or in swampy areas. This plant has long, pinnate leaves 6 to 12 m long that include the rigid and thick rachis and the segment, which forms the pendulous parts of the plant. Besalampy is the capital, an urban city located in the west of Madagascar, in the region of Melaky, in the province of Majunga. Its natural stands extend into the northwestern region of Madagascar even if for various reasons: the progress of the culture, the manufacture of palm wine, we find raffia plantations in the eastern region and also in the western slope .
The intensive exploitation of this plant makes today that the species is in regression.
The light and resistant spines are used for the construction of huts, or furniture and light chairs since the time of colonization around 1897.
As for the segments, young and in whole, they are used for the manufacture of mats and soubiques. The segments of the spine are separated using a knife in a process very specific to Betsimisaraka or Sakalava, to extract the fiber.
Before the introduction of cotton fabrics on the Big Island, raffia fibers, woven on rudimentary crafts dress all the peoples of Madagascar before the colonial era.
In the present era, raw fibers dried and pressed into bales are the main object of a large export trade.
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