AP PHOTOS: The faces of pastoralists in Senegal, where connection to animals is key
Moussa Ifra Ba, stands for a portrait in the village of Dendoudy Dow, in the Matam region of Senegal, Monday, April 17, 2023. The 28-year-old herder can’t imagine any other life. “A village without cows has no soul. ... I love pastoralism to the core”. The father of a two-year-old girl, he travels with his wife and her family taking care of the sheep and cows. “If I’m lucky enough to have three boys, I’d like two of them to go to school and the third to take over from me”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
FETE FORROU, Senegal (AP) — The Fulani people — also known as the Peuhl — are believed to be the largest seminomadic ethnic group in the world, with communities stretching from Senegal to the Central African Republic.
While some men in this Muslim ethnic group have attended Quranic school, most prepare for their future by learning the ways of animal herding alongside their elders.
“It’s a profession, but it’s also an inherited tradition,” says Amadou Altine Ndiaye, 48, who began tending to his family’s flock when he was 8. “It’s a source of pride.”
Amadou Altine Ndiaye stands for a portrait in the village of Yawara Dieri, in the Matam region of Senegal, Saturday, April 15, 2023. The 48 year-old herder, who had cattle and sheep present at his birth, says that he was born into pastoralism, and since then he has known only that. For Ndiaye, who began tending to his family’s flock when he was just 8 years old, his profession is also an inherited tradition. “It’s a source of pride. ... We Fulanis would be lost if we had to change our method of pastoralism because those who haven’t studied couldn’t adapt to modern methods,” he says. “The best thing is to continue with our know-how.” (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Now he’s working alongside his son-in-law, Moussa Ifra Ba. “I love pastoralism to the core,” the 28-year-old says.
Ba has grown especially attached to the family’s flock of sheep: “It’s a real friendship between you, and the male animals cry when they move away from you.”
“If you give a ram a name, after a month it remembers that name and as soon as you call it, it will come and join you.”
Maary Kalidou Ndiaye stands for a portrait in the village of Yawara Dieri, in the Matam region of Senegal, Saturday, April 15, 2023. The 50-year-old wife of Amadou Ndiaye says some of her main tasks are to take care of the food, fetch water, and prepare the donkeys to carry the family’s belongings. She wakes up every day early in the morning to milk the cows, prepare breakfast and fetch water. “Moving around all the time and every day loading and unloading your belongings is exhausting!”, she says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Pate Ba stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. The 70-year old herder says that the one of the main difficulties is the lack of rain but when the rainy season is good, there is water and pasture that the cattle can benefit from. “We live off our cattle but if the cattle find any difficulties, we suffer too”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Amadou Djiby, 44, stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. Djiby explains that there are several difficulties working as a herder. The cattle are thirsty due to the lack of water, lack of good grassland, animal feed is expensive and when you have to sell them you bend to the realities of the prices. “Before it was better because there was more rain but now the rain is rare”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Suleymane Ba stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. For the 43-year-old herder, pastoralism is an inherited tradition that has its advantages and disadvantages. When you have grassland and your cattle is protected, you are able to feed yourself with milk and, if necessary, to sell a sheep, goat or cow. When there is a lack of water “this causes harm to the livestock”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Saydou Kane stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. The 39-year-old herder says one has to know the pleasures and the difficulties in pastoralism. “There is nothing more important than raising livestock. Everything you can imagine is in it,” says Kanne. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Kebe Pathe Ba stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. The 41-year-old herder says, “It’s only the raising of livestock that we like. ... That’s all we know how to do, even if we were in France or the USA. ... Our whole life is governed by this (being a herder).” (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Houraye Ndiaye, 20, stands for a portrait in the village of Dendoudy Dow, in the Matam region of Senegal, Monday, April 17, 2023. Ndiaye travels with her husband and their two-year-old girl, along with her parents and two other siblings. She says that moving the livestock has its benefits but there are many difficulties as well. As her husband, Moussa Ifra Ba, plans having three boys, she offered up a proposal. “One can raise the cattle, one can tend to the sheep and the third son can go to school”. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Mamadou Ba stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. For the 64-year-old herder, the difficulties surge when diseases are noticed and the arrival of veterinarians turns from preventive to treatment. “The benefits of raising livestock are having cattle and being able to live off them when the herd is good”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Moussa Ifra Ba, stands for a portrait in the village of Dendoudy Dow, in the Matam region of Senegal, Monday, April 17, 2023. The 28-year-old herder can’t imagine any other life. “A village without cows has no soul. ... I love pastoralism to the core”. The father of a two-year-old girl, he travels with his wife and her family taking care of the sheep and cows. “If I’m lucky enough to have three boys, I’d like two of them to go to school and the third to take over from me”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Abba Diallo, 18, stands for a portrait at a local market near a water station known as Bem Bem, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April. 19, 2023. Diallo says that the vaccines to treat or prevent animals from disease are expensive, and during the lean season you have to fatten the cattle. “To raise livestock is hard. You follow the herd from morning to night without eating anything, you just drink water”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Mamadou Samba Sow, 63, stands for a portrait in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Thursday, April 13, 2023. A father of fourteen children, the herder who came from Mauritania to Senegal eighteen years ago says that before raising cows was more profitable and more respected but now the herders are moving more towards raising more sheep. Sow believes that transhumance is important and largely covers the country’s needs, especially for the Eid al-Adha festival, known locally as Tabaski. “Our whole life goes around our livestock”, he says. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Oumar Abdoulaye Sow, stands for a portrait in the village of Fete Forrou, in the Matam region of Senegal, Tuesday, April. 11, 2023. For the 43-year-old, being a herder is something that the Fulani people have learned from their parents, raising livestock and agriculture, for generations. “The herd is our property and if it’s well developed it allows us, for example, to buy a vehicle”, explains Sow. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
___
EDITORS’ NOTE — This story is part of The Protein Problem, an AP series that examines the question: Can we feed this growing world without starving the planet? To see the full project, visit https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-protein-problem/index.html