[4] The Zarma people are predominantly Muslims of the Maliki-Sunni school,[5][6] and they live in the arid Sahel lands, along the Niger River valley which is a source of irrigation, forage for cattle herds, and drinking water.

[11] The Zarma people are alternatively referred to as Zerma, Zaberma, Zabarma Zabermawa, Djerma, Dyerma,[3] Jerma, or other terms.

[14] Groups usually referred to as part of the Zarma or Songhay, but who have traceable historical distinctions include the Gabda, Tinga, Sorko, Kalles, Golles, Loqas and Kurtey peoples.

[18] The Zarma migrated south-eastward into their current geographic concentration during the Songhai Empire period, settling particularly in what is now southwest Niger near the capital Niamey.

[17] After leaving Gao, the Zarma first settled in the Zarmaganda, later expanding south into the Dallol Bosso valley and Dosso by the 17th century.

[16] The Zabarma Emirate was founded by itinerant Zarma preachers and horse traders in the 19th century military, eventually conquering much of the voltaic plateau (southern Burkina Faso, northern Ghana).

According to Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, slaves accounted for two-thirds to three-quarters of the total population of the Songhay-Zarma people, similar proportions to other ethnic groups in pre-colonial West Africa.

[29] The French relied on the Dosso post and Niger river valley as supply hubs as they attempted to establish their colonial control all the way to Chad.

[28] French colonial rulers established mines throughout West Africa staffed with African labor, many of whom were migrant Zarma people.

The different strata of the Zarma-Songhai people have included the kings and warriors, the scribes, the artisans, the weavers, the hunters, the fishermen, the leather workers and hairdressers (Wanzam), and the domestic slaves (Horso, Bannye).

[37][38] Some scholars such as John Shoup list these strata in three categories: free (chiefs, farmers and herders), servile (artists, musicians and griots), and the slave class.

The traditionally free strata of the Zerma people have owned property and herds, and these have dominated the political system and governments during and after the French colonial rule.

[46] The women among Zarma people, like other ethnic groups of Sahel and West Africa, have traditionally practiced female genital mutilation (FGM).

According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization studies, in Zarma culture the female circumcision is called Haabize.

[51] The huts are traditionally roundhouses, or circular shaped structures made of mud walls with a thatched straw conical roof.

[50] The Zarma people grow maize, millet, sorghum, rice, tobacco, cotton and peanuts during the rainy season (June to November).

Some own horses, a legacy of those Zerma people who historically belonged to the warrior class and were skilled cavalrymen in Islamic armies.