Zarma

Zarma, a people of westernmost Niger and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The Zarma speak a dialect of Songhai, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family, and are considered to be a branch of the Songhai people.

The Zarma live in the arid lands of the Sahel. Many live in the Niger River valley and exploit the river for irrigation. They grow millet, sorghum, rice, corn (maize), and tobacco and raise cotton and peanuts (groundnuts) as cash crops. They own cattle, but their herds are tended by Fulani or Tuareg herders. Milk is an important element of the daily diet. Horses are kept by important persons, and in the past the Zarma were skilled cavalrymen. Horses and especially cattle are an important source of wealth for the Zarma, and there has long been a trade pattern whereby cattle are driven south for sale in coastal countries.

Niamey, the capital of Niger, and the towns of Dosso and Tillabéry are in Zarma territory. For a long time Zarma have migrated to coastal countries, especially to Ghana, in search of work. The Zarma numbered more than two million at the turn of the 21st century.