Fulani herdsmen

The herdsmen are found in countries such as Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon.

[2] The main work of men is to manage the herd, find grazing sites, build tents and camps, and make security tools such as knives, bows and arrows (or since the 1990's to buy or acquire modern firearms or machetes).

[3] Women in the unit take on traditional female gender roles such as sourcing food produce in the market, milking cows, weaving and mat-making.

A major benefit of the movement for the herdsmen is to maximize the availability of food resources for the cattle and reduce excessive grazing.

The sale of goat, sheep and dairy products such as milk constitute the primary source of income and livelihood for the herdsmen.

The dwarf Ndama cattle is commonly herded in the wetter areas of Fouta Djallon and Casamance as a result of their resistance to trypanosomiasis and other conditions directly associated with high humidity.

However, after recurrent droughts in the arid Sahel regions, Fulani pastoralists have gradually moved southwards to the Guinea savanna and the tropical forest areas, resulting in competition for grazing routes with farmers.

[14] Fulani pastoralists started migrating into northern Nigeria from the Senegambia region around the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

[15] This placed the pastoral Fulani in a difficult position because most did not apply for lands of occupancy of their grazing routes, and recurring transhumance movement led to encroachment on the properties of others.