LatestCourtney DittmarNovember 26, 2023Leo CorreaComment

Pastoralists in Senegal raise livestock much as their ancestors did centuries ago

LatestCourtney DittmarNovember 26, 2023Leo CorreaComment

The planet is changing, but pastoralists here in the Sahel region of Africa are in many ways still raising livestock the way their ancestors did centuries ago.

And countries like Senegal depend upon their success to feed their growing populations: The United Nations estimates that 65% of meat and 70% of milk sold at local markets in the region come from pastoralists.

As the Sahara Desert encroaches ever southward, the amount of arable land for animals to graze decreases each year. That’s putting extra pressure on pastoralist herders. Among them is Amadou Altine Ndiaye, who earlier this year made a 170-kilometer (106-mile) trek in search of more verdant land for animals.

“One of the main difficulties related to pastoralism is the lack of grazing,” Ndiaye said. “There would be no problem if there is grazing and water, but it is during this dry season that it is most difficult.”

Cows walk together in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

With decreasing rainfall and deforestation in the region, Ndiaye said the terrain is no longer like it was in the 1970s when he was young. “The forest is not like it used to be, and every year the change continues,” he said.

The search for water is all-consuming, particularly during the dry season in West Africa. Nomadic herders make use of wells and boreholes, planning their itinerary routes around a series of water towers the government has put up to help pastoralists care for their animals.

Some pastoralists now essentially live semi-nomadic lives, keeping their families in one place but moving the animals nearby to graze as needed.

Mamadou Samba Sow, 63, is originally from Mauritania but now lives in northeastern Senegal with his wife and 14 children.

Despite the hardships of raising livestock, he describes his connection to his animals “like the bond that exists between two people.”

“There’s a kind of reciprocity between you and the animals — they take care of you in the same way as you do with them,” he said. “They know where you are, whatever your position.”

Oumar Abdoulaye Sow, 43, sits at a water trough after giving water to his cows in the village of Fete Forrou, in the Matam region of Senegal, Tuesday, April. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Flip flops are seen at the entrance of a small house at a compound of a family of herders in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Members of the community pray during the holy month of Ramadan in front of their mosque in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Fulani people:

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.”

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."

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

The faces of pastoralists in Senegal, where connection to animals is key

Houraye Ndiaye, 20, daughter of Amadou Altine Ndiaye, stands next to a fire as she prepares dinner where her family set up camp in the village of Yawara Dieri, in the Matam region of Senegal, Saturday, April 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Men share a plate of food during the holy month of Ramadan at a compound of a family of herders in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Amadou Altine Ndiaye holds a flashlight as he sits on his metal-framed bed next to his children and wife where they set up camp in the village of Yawara Dieri, in the Matam region of Senegal, Saturday, April 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Cows stand under a baobab tree nearby a borehole that supplies water to the village of Loumboul Dakaa, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Amadou Altine Ndiaye takes an afternoon nap where his family set up camp in the village of Dendoudy Dow, in the Matam region of Senegal, Monday, April 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Amadou Tidiany Sow, 50, top left, prays as a man collects water from a well with the help of a camel, during the holy month of Ramadan, at the village of Fete Forrou, in the Matam region of Senegal, Tuesday, April. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Mamadou Samba Sow, 63, center left, and his wife, Dieynaba Toure, 46, center right, stand for a picture with their family at their compound in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Thursday, April 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Lead image: Dieynaba Toure, 46, milks a cow at the compound of her family in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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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