October 3, 2026
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.
Most of the men prepare for their futures 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.”
Now he’s working alongside his son-in-law, Moussa Ifra Ba., a 28-year-old who 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."
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