Who are the pastoralist peoples of Africa?

Africa's pastoralists are peoples who live mainly by herding cattle, camels, sheep and goats. They include the Fulani of West Africa, the Tuareg of the Sahara, the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana of East Africa, the Somali and Afar of the Horn, the Nuer and Dinka of South Sudan, and the Himba of Namibia.

Pastoralism is a way of using dry grasslands and deserts where rain is too unreliable for crops. Herders move animals to follow rain and pasture. Animals provide milk, meat and income, and are central to marriage gifts, friendship and status.

In West Africa and the Sahel, the Fulani, also called Fulbe or Peul, herd cattle from Senegal to Sudan. The Tuareg herd camels and goats across the central Sahara. Both peoples also include many settled farmers, traders and townspeople. Herding families often move between countries with the seasons.

In East Africa, the Maasai, Samburu, Turkana, Borana and Rendille herd in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Many of these societies organise men into age sets, and councils of elders decide grazing and disputes. Further south, the Himba herd cattle and goats in northern Namibia.

Pastoralists face shrinking grazing land as farms, fences, wildlife parks and private ranches expand, together with more frequent drought. Several pastoralist peoples, including the Maasai and Mbororo Fulani, take part in the international indigenous peoples' movement to defend their land and mobility.

Words used here

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Fulanibritannica.com
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Maasaibritannica.com
• IWGIA: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairsiwgia.org

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