FRIENDSHIP AMONG PASTORAL FULBE IN NORTHWEST CAMEROON

Abstract

This article discusses perceptions and practices of friendship among the Mbororo (pastoral Fulbe) in northwest Cameroon. The concept of friendship is culturally and socially embedded, and the author highlights the flexible and multilayered character of friendship in Cameroon. While in Europe and the U.S. the voluntary and emotional connotations of friendship are stressed, for the Mbororo, it includes a significant economic component and may overlap with other relationships, such as kinship and patron-client relations. Furthermore, Mbororo women and men differ in their perspectives and practices of friendship. Finally, the author argues that interethnic friendships between Mbororo pastoralists and their farming neighbors are of an individual nature and that in the face of conflict, their integrative capacity is limited.