In rural areas, the Gbaya cultivate mainly maize, cassava, yams, peanuts, tobacco, coffee and rice, the latter two of which were introduced by the French.

[8] The first contact with Europeans occurred in 1892, when French explorer Antoine Mizon entered Gbaya territory after steaming up the Sangha River.

[10] The Gbaya, who traditionally lived in small rural communities, strongly resented the forced urbanization brought by the Germans.

Many tribes initially responded by moving away to remote areas, but a German repression campaign soon forced them back into submission.

[citation needed] It was only in the 1990s that a notable number of Gbaya leaders began to be admitted into higher administrative positions in government.

[citation needed] Gbaya culture often takes an interest in the past and various traditions of martial arts, including disciplines that use hand-to-hand weapons.

One of the last recorded cases occurred in 1949, when a dozen old Gbaya men from a village near Bertoua were arrested after having indulged in ritual cannibalism.

[21] In rural areas, the Gbaya cultivate mainly maize, cassava (staple food),[22] yams, peanuts, tobacco, coffee and rice, the latter two of which were introduced by the French.