Can Africa's great nomadic people save their way of life?

National Geographic

a day ago

'If rainy season comes and we have grass and water, I'm happy,' says Fulani herder Alhajji Soh, 25, pictured in the rural community of Déali, Senegal, where rainfall has decreased dramatically. 'Some years we don't have grass and water … at those times I'm unhappy.' Photographs by Robin Hammond
Near the southern edge of the Sahara desert, millions of people in some 20 West and Central African countries share a way of life. Year after year, they take part in the ancient practice of nomadic pastoralism, herding livestock across increasingly hot, arid lands of the Sahel region in search of fresh grasslands and accessible water as the seasons change. From the western coast of Senegal to the eastern shorelines of Sudan, herders follow different migratory routes that can cover hundreds of miles.
Most of these pastoralists share another important distinction: They are Fulani, an Indigenous people who have a broad cultural identity shaped by such traditional journeys. These groups are vast and varied, and many are traveling in new directions. The Fulani, a predominantly Muslim collection of Indigenous communities spread across nearly two dozen Central and West African countries, are connected by pastoral traditions that stretch back centuries. In northern Cameroon, teenagers (from left) Fadimatou Moussa, Hawaou Hamadou, and Amin Moussa belong to the Mbororo people and take part in annual migrations. Ousmanou Hamadou, 67, and Hamadou Adamou, 51, tend to their goats, sheep, donkeys, and cattle in Cameroon.
In fact, the majority of these predominantly Muslim people today are no longer herders. In recent generations many took up farming or settled in towns and cities to follow different prospects to provide for themselves and their families. In Guinea, the Fulani who migrated to the Fouta Djallon mountainous region now grow crops and allow their livestock to roam free. In Sierra Leone, many Fulani have become entrepreneurs who wield influence over the direction of trade and politics. In Nigeria, where the population has grown dramatically, Fulani herders now face increased competition for land and resources. Here, pastoralists lead their cattle through arid lands during the dry season, which in recent years has lasted longer due to climate change.
Because Fulani herders are often in transition, they have historically encountered issues accessing and managing the lands they've traversed for generations. Yet despite Fulani people being minorities in almost all the countries where they have settled, several strong leaders have emerged. In recent decades, at least five Fulani presidents have served in African nations. Across the Chad Basin—a landlocked region that includes parts of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon—conflict orchestrated by the jihadist group Boko Haram has disrupted the livelihoods of many Fulani, displacing communities of herders and farmers that have been forced to settle in camps like this one called Taal. Violence accompanying territorial disputes is just one of the many challenges that confront the Fulani. After fleeing violence in Burkina Faso, Jajo Jallo, 49, and his family became refugees in Ghana. Adam Gaya, nine, along with his donkey named Bako, is shown in the village of Fadouk in Niger.
On the most basic level, 'Fulani' has become an umbrella term that encompasses many different groups of people, explains Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a Fulani Mbororo woman and a knowledge holder among her community. She compares those groups to branches on the Fulani tree. 'In West Africa, you have Futa Toro [and] Fouta Djallon,' says Ibrahim, who is a National Geographic Explorer and president of the Peul Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad. 'And then in our area of Central Africa we have some Mbororo'—which is her own branch of peoples. Within the branches there are many different communities. But the majority still feel a strong connection to the land, she says, and their ancestral way of life.
At the same time, those who carry on the traditional practice encounter new threats from climate change and regional disputes along their pathways, including occasional aggression from landowners. Some of the more recent conflict may be fueled by an unfounded assertion among some governments and non-Fulani communities that the Fulani are disproportionately joining jihadist groups. The reality is that herders heavily contribute to the region's economy and have a long history of peaceful trade with farmers and business owners. For years, these Mbororo people typically migrated between Nigeria and Cameroon, but as the land they traversed has fallen into private ownership, their traditional routes have become dangerous. Now they travel only within Cameroon where some swaths of open grassland still offer a welcoming corridor. Their journey continues to be an arduous one as temperatures soar in the region.
While Fulani may live off the land, they also help replenish it. As these pastoralists travel, Ibrahim points out, their livestock leave behind manure that enriches the soil with nutrients, creating more fertile land. They also trim trees along their routes, strengthening branches that encourage growth and protect against brush fires. Pastoralism is the most adapted livelihood to the Sahel ecosystem, Ibrahim says.
(Meet the woman who is inspiring a new future for Africa's nomadic herders.)
To gain deeper insight into these often misunderstood communities, photographer and National Geographic Explorer Robin Hammond chronicled their travels over a six-year period. In this story, he shares rare images that speak to their vibrancy and to the enduring hardships they face. 'Fulani culture is amazing and unique, but it's important not to romanticize it,' says Hammond. 'Many herders are just struggling to survive.' A version of this story appears in the July 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine.
An Explorer since 2019 and Barcelona-based photographer, Robin Hammond documented the traditions and challenges of nomadic Fulani people in communities across Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, and elsewhere.
The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Robin Hammond's work. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers.
Alexa McMahon is a senior features manager at National Geographic magazine.