Fulani in Niger

Fulani people are an African ethnic group believed to have come from North Africa, although there is some debate as to whether they may have originated in the Middle East. Fulani who now live in Niger and Nigeria started migrating from Futa Toro, Futa Jallo and other areas around what is known today as Guinea and Senegal in the sixteenth century, searching for grazing land.

By the fifteenth century, Fulani had founded Massina (upstream from the Niger Bend) where Sheikhu Ahmadu established the Massina Empire in the nineteenth century. Sheikhu Ahmadu ruled as Almami from 1818 until his death in 1845, also taking the title Cisse al-Masini. The Massina Empire was later conquered by another prominent Fulani figure, Alhaji Umar al-Futi.

Perhaps the best-known Islamic leader to have emerged in this period is Usman dan Fodio. Shehu Usman dan Fodio was a Fulani scholar, Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its first caliph. Dan Fodio wrote more than a hundred books concerning religion, government, culture and society. He developed a critique of existing African Muslim elites for what he saw as their greed, paganism and violation of the standards of shari’a law.

His writings and sayings continue to be much quoted today and are often referred to as Shehu in Niger and Nigeria.

French colonial rule in Niger started around 1899. The local population’s resistance was divided into two groups:  Zarma-Songhai on the one hand, and Hausa and Tuareg on the other hand. The Fulani living with Zarma were less involved in the resistance movement, barring certain isolated exceptions, particularly related to the Fulani resistance to paying tax. The Fulani living with Hausa jointly resisted French invasion of their territory. As a result, Fulani faced French military brutality at the hands of Captain Paul Voulet. Many villages and towns were destroyed, and Fulani herders suffered greatly during the early French colonial period. Fulani communities living in the desert joined forces with Tuareg people to resist the French occupation during the 1916-1917 uprisings.

Many scholars in Niger argue that current Fulani-associated violence is simply the continuation of Dan Fodio’s jihad, and that conflict between pastoralists and farmers can be explained as a sedimentation of conflict and historical Islamization of Niger by Fulani groups during the 19^th century. Other factors certainly contribute, however, such as desertification, the expansion of land under cultivation by settled communities and climate-driven disruptions to the movement of nomadic Fulani pastoralists.

Although the population of Fulani in Niger is relatively low, their marginalization is a major concern, especially as lack of access to grazing land and travelling routes, combined with lack of access to water and resources, has led to severe clashes between pastoralist nomadic groups and farmers. One of the best known among a series of farmer-pastoralist conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa is between Fulani and Zarma people, which is caused by the migration of Fulani due to climate change and desertification.

Various ecological and socio-political factors have exacerbated historical tensions between Fulani and Zarma communities. The Sahara shifts back and forth along a north-south axis, with periods of southward expansion alternating with periods of retreat of the desert. The Sahara is currently in a period of southward growth, exacerbated by climate change.

A 2011 report by the United Nations Environmental Programme highlighted a 1–2-degree increase in temperature in the Sahel region across Niger and Mali between 1970 and 2006, which has led to water scarcity, amongst other impacts. Deforestation has also affected rainfall, leading to soil degradation and desertification.

As a result of these environmental changes, Fulani herders have been forced further south, where they frequently encroach on the farmland of settled communities, especially in times of drought. Crop damage caused by herds and strained water sources then become a frequent subject of discord between pastoralists and sedentary farmers. Tensions can intensify and lead to violence.

Introduced in 1993, Niger’s Rural Code remains the most important legislation as part of the government’s attempt to promote individualized land-use rights and increase land tenure security. Yet, the pre-existence of different and sometimes contradictory layers of land rights and the limited authority of Land Commissions undermines its effective enforcement. Local land disputes are seldom taken to court and mostly addressed by traditional conflict resolution bodies, leaving considerable discretionary power to traditional chiefs and room for contestation. Less influential groups often lack the power to assert their rights to use resources. This situation is further complicated by the fact that formal land legislation often discriminates against pastoralist communities. Meanwhile, during the past decades, the expansion of land used for agriculture has reduced the areas available to herders for grazing.

Since the late 1990’s, violence has frequently erupted between Fulani people and farmers across the country. In 1991, a conflict over crop damage near the village of Toda led to the deaths of two Hausa farmers. In revenge, over a hundred Fulani women and children were reportedly killed. Another significant episode involved Zarma and Fulani, causing the deaths of seven people in 1997, but there are many unreported cases since then across the country which have resulted in loss of human lives and cattle. Violence has also intensified in recent years as Fulani face more attacks from armed Islamist groups in Niger, and the areas bordering Mali and Nigeria, especially around Diffa region.

The issue of banditry has increased in Maradi, another region that lies across the Niger/Nigeria border, as a result of unresolved conflict between Fulani herders and Hausa farmers. BBC Hausa reported in 2024 that Fulani living in the Agadez region had lost all their cattle due to lack of grazing and water shortages. Despite the difficulties faced by Fulani communities, Hausa-speaking farming communities often express hatred against Fulani especially in Maradi region. Some Hausa villages in southwestern Niger have formed self-defence groups, while some Fulani have in turn taken up arms against Hausa farmers. Meanwhile, organized criminal gangs take advantage of these tensions. While they recruit members from all the local ethnic groups, farmers tend to associate banditry with Fulani due to prejudice, even though Fulani communities also bear the brunt of criminal activity. Indeed, the herding crisis is driving at least some Fulani towards recruitment by criminal gangs, adding to the stigma and prejudice faced by their community.

Aid agencies have been working to strengthen pastoralist organizations across the Sahel. Efforts include initiatives to improve pastoralists’ access to services and promote their participation in national decision-making processes. As part of a three-year project (2008-2011), USAID focused on improving rights and access to land, pushing for administrative reforms in order to decrease the time and costs connected with land ownership, and assisting the government in reforming its land registration institutions. Moreover, national government policies, such as subsidies for herding and subsistence farming, have been introduced to mitigate the loss of livelihoods caused by drought and desertification.

Apart from Niger’s 1993 Rural Code nothing concrete has been proposed by the government to resolve the Fulani-farmer conflict in Niger. What is more, there is little by way of enforcement of such law. For instance, the 1993 law allows for the registration of customary land rights but remains unclear about which rights are eligible for registration. Policies introduced by local government have helped reduce conflicts involving Fulani who have settled and who graze in particular areas; however, nomadic Fulani travelling from one area to another do not often benefit from these policies.