Undated
Sahel, Senegal River Valley, Ferlo, upper Casamance
The Peul are a pastoral people in Senegal whose economy centers on cattle, sheep, and goats, supplemented by limited subsistence cultivation. Their seasonal mobility historically connected the Ferlo savannas with more fertile southern areas. Borehole construction from the 1950s encouraged the establishment of semipermanent camps and villages around water sources, reducing but not eliminating pastoral mobility.
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The Story
The Peul are described as a pastoral group that grows a few subsistence crops but depends primarily on the milk and meat of cattle, sheep, and goats. Their livelihoods require access to pasture and water, making seasonal movement a central feature of pastoral life. They are presented alongside nomadic, seminomadic, and sedentary livestock raisers in Senegal.
Before the expansion of borehole infrastructure, Peul herders moved their families away from the Ferlo when dry-season watering holes failed. Their seasonal search for pasture extended from the savannas of northern Senegal toward more fertile southern areas. Such movements could expose herds to disease and reduce milk and meat production through the physical strain of long-distance travel.
Beginning in the 1950s, the French government drilled deep boreholes into the aquifer, creating a grid of wells with pumping stations at roughly 30-kilometer intervals. The Peul established semipermanent camps or villages around these water sources and became less mobile than they had been fifty years earlier. Some households also cultivated small millet plots during the rainy season.
Competition between pastoralists and farmers over land and water generated recurrent conflict. In 1991, thousands of Peul people and more than 100,000 cattle were expelled from the Mbegu forest reserve to make way for groundnut farmers. This episode illustrates the tension between extensive grazing and agricultural enclosure in Senegal’s rural economy.
The Peul are described as a pastoral group whose economy rests chiefly on the milk and meat of cattle, sheep, and goats, with only a small amount of subsistence cultivation. Their herding system was historically adapted to the dry conditions of the Ferlo, where families moved when watering holes dried during the dry season. Dairy products were exchanged for cereals, while cattle were rarely slaughtered for household meat consumption.
This mobility declined after the French government began drilling deep boreholes in the 1950s. A grid of wells and pumping stations, placed at roughly thirty-kilometre intervals, created more dependable access to underground water. Peul families consequently established semipermanent camps or villages around water sources and some cultivated millet during the rainy season.
The resulting way of life is characterized as semi-nomadic. Most people remain in one settlement throughout the year, while one or two men accompany the cattle from borehole to borehole according to water availability and pasture quality. Some Peul have moved further toward permanent settlement as cattle ranchers, while others retain mobile herding practices.
Peul herders also participate in reciprocal arrangements with Wolof farming communities. Cattle may graze on crop residues after harvest, while animals are tied near villages at night so that their manure fertilizes cultivated land. These exchanges connect pastoral livestock keeping with village agriculture and show how Peul herding operates within wider rural economies in Senegal.
Undated
Sahel, Senegal River Valley, Ferlo, upper Casamance
The Peul are a pastoral people in Senegal whose economy centers on cattle, sheep, and goats, supplemented by limited subsistence cultivation. Their seasonal mobility historically connected the Ferlo savannas with more fertile southern areas. Borehole construction from the 1950s encouraged the establishment of semipermanent camps and villages around water sources, reducing but not eliminating pastoral mobility.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Peul are described as a pastoral group that grows a few subsistence crops but depends primarily on the milk and meat of cattle, sheep, and goats. Their livelihoods require access to pasture and water, making seasonal movement a central feature of pastoral life. They are presented alongside nomadic, seminomadic, and sedentary livestock raisers in Senegal.
Before the expansion of borehole infrastructure, Peul herders moved their families away from the Ferlo when dry-season watering holes failed. Their seasonal search for pasture extended from the savannas of northern Senegal toward more fertile southern areas. Such movements could expose herds to disease and reduce milk and meat production through the physical strain of long-distance travel.
Beginning in the 1950s, the French government drilled deep boreholes into the aquifer, creating a grid of wells with pumping stations at roughly 30-kilometer intervals. The Peul established semipermanent camps or villages around these water sources and became less mobile than they had been fifty years earlier. Some households also cultivated small millet plots during the rainy season.
Competition between pastoralists and farmers over land and water generated recurrent conflict. In 1991, thousands of Peul people and more than 100,000 cattle were expelled from the Mbegu forest reserve to make way for groundnut farmers. This episode illustrates the tension between extensive grazing and agricultural enclosure in Senegal’s rural economy.
The Peul are described as a pastoral group whose economy rests chiefly on the milk and meat of cattle, sheep, and goats, with only a small amount of subsistence cultivation. Their herding system was historically adapted to the dry conditions of the Ferlo, where families moved when watering holes dried during the dry season. Dairy products were exchanged for cereals, while cattle were rarely slaughtered for household meat consumption.
This mobility declined after the French government began drilling deep boreholes in the 1950s. A grid of wells and pumping stations, placed at roughly thirty-kilometre intervals, created more dependable access to underground water. Peul families consequently established semipermanent camps or villages around water sources and some cultivated millet during the rainy season.
The resulting way of life is characterized as semi-nomadic. Most people remain in one settlement throughout the year, while one or two men accompany the cattle from borehole to borehole according to water availability and pasture quality. Some Peul have moved further toward permanent settlement as cattle ranchers, while others retain mobile herding practices.
Peul herders also participate in reciprocal arrangements with Wolof farming communities. Cattle may graze on crop residues after harvest, while animals are tied near villages at night so that their manure fertilizes cultivated land. These exchanges connect pastoral livestock keeping with village agriculture and show how Peul herding operates within wider rural economies in Senegal.