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===Traditional livelihood=== The Fulani are traditionally a [[nomad]]ic, [[Pastoralism|pastoralist]] [[trade|trading]] people. They herd [[cattle]], [[goat]]s and [[sheep]] across the vast dry hinterlands of their domain, keeping somewhat separate from the local agricultural populations. They are the largest nomadic ethnic group in the world and inhabit several territories over an area larger in size than the continental United States. The pastoral lifestyle of the herders' tribe makes it complicated for a non-member to date or marry a Fulani woman.<ref>{{Cite web|title=4 Things To Know Before Dating Fulani Girls|url=https://www.datingreporter.com.ng/2020/09/4-things-to-know-before-dating-fulani-girls.html|access-date=2021-02-27|website=Dating Reporter's Blog|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301221504/https://www.datingreporter.com.ng/2020/09/4-things-to-know-before-dating-fulani-girls.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Fulani follow a code of behaviour known as ''pulaaku'', which consists of the qualities of patience, self-control, discipline, prudence, modesty, respect for others (including foes), wisdom, forethought, personal responsibility, hospitality, courage, and hard work. Among the nomadic Fulani, women in their spare time make handicrafts including engraved gourds, weavings, knitting, beautifully made covers for calabashes known as '''mbeedu''', and baskets. The Fulani men are less involved in the production of crafts such as pottery, iron-working, and dyeing, unlike males from neighbouring ethnic groups around them. [[File:Niger, camp near Kobéri Kouara (1).jpg|thumb|250px|Fulani pastoralists in Niger]] In virtually every area of West Africa, where the nomadic Fulɓe reside, there has been an increasing trend of [[Nomadic conflict|conflicts]] between farmers (sedentary) and grazier (pastoral nomadic). There have been numerous such cases on the [[Jos Plateau]], the [[Western High Plateau]], the Central/Middle Belt regions of Nigeria,<ref name="BBC2016-08-10">{{cite news |author=Martin Patience |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37021044 |title=Nigeria's deadly battle for land: Herdsmen v farmers |work=BBC News |date=2016-08-10 |access-date=2016-08-10}}</ref> Northern Burkina Faso, and Southern Chad. The rearing of cattle is a principal activity in four of Cameroon's ten administrative regions as well as three other provinces with herding on a lesser scale, throughout the North and Central regions of Nigeria, as well as the entire Sahel and Sudan region.<ref name="4 July 2013">{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201307041283.html |title=Nigeria: Going Beyond the Green Wall Ritual |publisher=allAfrica.com |date=2013-07-04 |access-date=2014-02-27}}</ref> For decades there have been intermittent skirmishes between the [[Wodaabe|Woɗaaɓe]] ''Bororo'' (graziers) and sedentary farmers such as the [[Jukun people (West Africa)|Jukun]], [[Tiv people|Tiv]], [[Chamba people|Chamba]], [[Bamileke people|Bamileke]], Wurkum, Bachama, [[Jenjo people|Jenjo]], Mbula, Berom, [[Mumuye people|Mumuye]], Kare Kare, and sometimes even the Hausa. Such conflicts usually begin when cattle have strayed into farmlands and destroyed crops. Thousands of Fulani have been forced to migrate from their traditional homelands in the Sahel, to areas further south, because of increasing encroachment of [[Sahara]]n [[desertification]]. Nigeria alone loses {{convert|2168|km2}} of cattle rangeland and cropland every year to desertification, posing serious threats to the livelihoods of about 20 million people.<ref name="4 July 2013"/> Recurrent droughts have meant that a lot of traditional herding families have been forced to give up their nomadic way of life, losing a sense of their identity in the process.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/the-gambia/articles/an-introduction-to-the-gambias-fulani-people/ |title= An Introduction To The Gambia's Fulani People |publisher=Culture Trip |date= 2019-11-30 |access-date=2019-10-27}}</ref> Increasing urbanization has also meant that a lot of traditional Fulani grazing lands have been taken for developmental purposes, or forcefully converted into farmlands.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ivory Coast – ETHNIC GROUPS AND LANGUAGES|url=http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/20.htm|website=countrystudies.us|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> These actions often result in [[Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria|violent attacks and reprisal counterattacks]] being exchanged between the Fulani, who feel their way of life and survival are being threatened, and other populations who often feel aggrieved from loss of farm produce even if the lands they farm on were initially barren and uncultivated.<ref name="BBC2016-08-10"/> [[File:Flickr - Dan Lundberg - 1997 ^276-27A Wodaabe camp.jpg|thumb|250px|Several [[Wodaabe]] clans in Niger have gathered for a [[Guérewol]] festival]] Fulani in Nigeria have often requested for the development of exclusive grazing reserves, to curb conflicts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamji.com/fulani8.htm |title=Grazing Reserve Development and Constraints |publisher=Gamji.com |access-date=2014-02-27}}</ref> All the leading presidential aspirants of previous elections seeking Fulɓe votes have made several of such failed promises in their campaigns. Discussions among government officials, traditional rulers, and Fulani leaders on the welfare of the pastoralists have always centred on requests and pledges for protecting grazing spaces and cattle passages. The growing pressure from '''Ardo'en''' (the Fulani community leaders) for the salvation of what is left of the customary grazing land has caused some state governments with large populations of herders (such as Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, and Kaduna) to include in their development plans the reactivation and preservation of grazing reserves. Quick to grasp the desperation of cattle-keepers for land, the administrators have instituted a Grazing Reserve Committee to find a lasting solution to the rapid depletion of grazing land resources in Nigeria.<ref name="July 21, 2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.punchng.com/news/senators-fight-over-grazing-land-for-fulani-herdsmen/ |title=Senators fight over grazing land for Fulani herdsmen |publisher=Punchng.com |date=2012-07-21 |access-date=2014-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201214847/http://www.punchng.com/news/senators-fight-over-grazing-land-for-fulani-herdsmen/ |archive-date=2014-02-01 }}</ref> [[File:Henri Allouard - Jeune femme Peul.jpg|thumb|Henri Allouard (1844–1929) – ''Young Fulani woman'']] The Fulani believe that the expansion of the grazing reserves will boost livestock population, lessen the difficulty of herding, reduce seasonal migration, and enhance the interaction among farmers, pastoralists, and rural dwellers. Despite these expectations, grazing reserves are not within the reach of about three-quarters of the nomadic Fulani in Nigeria, who number in the millions, and about sixty per cent of migrant pastoralists who use the existing grazing reserves keep to the same reserves every year. The number and the distribution of the grazing reserves in Nigeria range from insufficient to severely insufficient for Fulani livestock. In countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso where some cow supplies are dependent on the Fulani, such conflicts lead to hikes in beef prices. In recent times, the Nigerian senate and other lawmakers have been bitterly divided in attempts to pass bills on grazing lands and migration "corridors" for Fulani Herdsmen. This was mainly due to Southern and Central Nigerian lawmakers opposing the proposal, and Northern Lawmakers being in support.<ref name="July 21, 2012"/> [[Fulani extremism in Nigeria|Fulani extremists]] are involved in [[Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria|herder-farmer conflicts in Nigeria]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.premier.org.uk/News/World/Nigerian-government-failing-to-stop-Fulani-militants-killing-Christians-charity-says|title=Nigerian government failing to stop Fulani militants killing Christians, charity says|last=Premier|date=2019-02-07|website=Premier|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-24}}</ref><ref name="BBC2016-08-10"/><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Amnesty International|url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR4495032018ENGLISH.PDF|title=Harvest of Death Three Years Of Bloody Clashes Between Farmers and Herders in Nigeria|publisher=Amnesty International|year=2018|location=Maitama, Abuja-FCT, Nigeria}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nwangwu|first1=Chikodiri|last2=Enyiazu|first2=Chukwuemeka|date=2019|title=Nomadic Pastoralism and Human Security: Towards a Collective Action against Herders-Farmers Crisis in Nigeria|url=https://media.africaportal.org/documents/Nomadic_Pastoralism_and_Human_Security__.pdf|journal=Nomadic Pastorialism and Human Security: Towards a Collective Action Against Herders-Farmers Crisis in Nigeria {{!}} AfriHeritage Working Paper 2019 010|access-date=2022-12-24|archive-date=2020-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715183858/https://media.africaportal.org/documents/Nomadic_Pastoralism_and_Human_Security__.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-07 |title=Fulani Extremists Kill 3, Burn Church Site in Latest Attack on Christians in Nigeria – Villagers Say Gov't Doing Nothing |url=https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2022/april/fulani-extremists-kill-3-burn-church-site-in-latest-attack-on-christians-in-nigeria-villagers-say-govt-doing-nothing |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=CBN News |language=en}}</ref> According to the [[Global Terrorism Index]], a continuous sequence of [[Fulani extremism|Fulani attacks across West Africa]] have occurred in [[Mali]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/in-depth/sahel-flames-Burkina-Faso-Mali-Niger-militancy-conflict|title=The Sahel in flames|date=2019-05-31|website=The New Humanitarian|language=en|access-date=2019-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?charttype=pie&chart=casualties&search=FLM&count=100|title=GTD Search Results|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |last1=Tobie |first1=Aurélien |title=Central Mali: Violence, Local Perspectives and Diverging Narratives |date=December 2017 |url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2018-02/sipriinsight_1713_mali_3_eng.pdf |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |access-date=12 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728035418/https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2018-02/sipriinsight_1713_mali_3_eng.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2022}}</ref> [[Central African Republic]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?chart=overtime&search=fulani&count=100|title=GTD Search Results|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-04-11}}</ref> [[Democratic Republic of Congo]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=201603260030|title=Incident Summary for GTDID: 201603260030|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-04-11}}</ref> and [[Cameroon]].<ref name=HRW>{{cite web |title=Cameroon: Civilians Massacred in Separatist Area |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/25/cameroon-civilians-massacred-separatist-area |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=Feb 26, 2020 |date=Feb 25, 2020}}</ref> The cumulative fatalities in these attacks is in the thousands.<ref name=":2"/> <gallery widths="190" heights="190"> File:Brooklyn Museum 2000.39.2a-b Pair of Earrings.jpg|alt=Pair of Earrings; 1981; 3.2 x 3.2 x 1.9 cm (1 1⁄4 x 1 1⁄4 x 3⁄4 in.); Brooklyn Museum (New York City)|Pair of Earrings; 1981; 3.2 x 3.2 x 1.9 cm (1{{1/4}} x 1{{1/4}} x {{3/4}} in.); [[Brooklyn Museum]] (New York City) File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Roodkoperen armband TMnr 4933-21.jpg|alt=Bracelet; made before 1985; red copper; 5.3 x 10.6 x 10.6 cm (1 1⁄16 x 4 3⁄16 x 4 3⁄16 in.); Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (the Netherlands)|Bracelet; made before 1985; red copper; 5.3 x 10.6 x 10.6 cm (1{{frac|1|16}} x 4{{frac|3|16}} x 4{{frac|3|16}} in.); [[Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen]] (the [[Netherlands]]) </gallery>
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