Fouta Djallon (, , ; ) is a

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

region in the center of

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

, roughly corresponding with

Middle Guinea Middle Guinea () refers to a region in central Guinea, corresponding roughly with the plateau region known as Futa Jalon (; ). It is bounded by Maritime Guinea, also known as Lower Guinea, to the west, Guinea Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to ...

, in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

Etymology

The

Fulani people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

call the region Fuuta-Jaloo ( ) in the Pular language. 'Futa' is a Fula word for any region inhabited by the . 'Djallon' means 'mountain' in old Jallonke.Mohamed Saidou N’Daou. “Sangalan Oral Traditions as Philosophy and Ideologies.” History in Africa, vol. 26, 1999, pp. 239–67. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3172143. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024. French is the official language of Guinea, and or sometimes is the French spelling. Common English spellings include ''Futa Jallon'' and ''Futa Jalon''. The French, during the colonial period, wrote: * “The name of this region has often been spelled ‘Fouta‑Djallon’, with a ‘j’ after the capital ‘D’, which contradicts the local pronunciation: the natives themselves all say ‘Fouta‑Diallo’, and Europeans (whether officers or traders) likewise say ‘Fouta‑Diallon’."

History

The Jallonke people were the earliest inhabitants of the Futa Djallon. The region was a province of both the Sosso Empire and

Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...

under the name 'Dialonkadugu', meaning 'home of the mountain people'. Since the 17th century, the Fouta Djallon region has been a stronghold of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Early revolutionaries led by Karamokho Alfa and Ibrahim Sori set up a federation divided into nine provinces. Several succession crises weakened the central power located in Timbo until 1896, when the last Almamy, Bubakar Biro, was defeated by the French army in the Battle of Porédaka. The Fulɓe of Fouta Djallon spearheaded the expansion of Islam in the region.Mats Widgren, "Slaves: Inequality and sustainable agriculture in pre-colonial West Africa." In, ''Ecology and Power: Struggles over land and material resources in the past, present, and future.'' London: Routledge, 2012. pp. 97-107. Fulɓe Muslim scholars developed indigenous literature using the

Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...

. Known as Ajamiyya, this literary achievement is represented by such great poet-theologians as , Tierno Saadu Dalen, Tierno Aliou Boubha Ndyan, Tierno Jaawo Pellel etc.David Robinson. The Holy War of Umar Tal: the Western Sudan in the mid-nineteenth century. Clarendon Press. Oxford University Press, 1985. In its heyday, it was said that Fuuta-Jaloo was a magnet of learning, attracting students from Kankan to the Gambia, and featuring Jakhanke clerics at Tuba as well as Fulɓe teachers. It acted as the nerve centre for trading caravans heading in every direction. The more enterprising commercial lineages, of whatever ethnic origin, established colonies in the Futanke hills and along the principal routes. It served their interests to send their sons to Futanke schools, to support the graduates who came out to teach, and in general to extend the vast pattern of influence that radiated from Futa Jalon. Amadou Hampâté Bâ has called Fuuta-Jaloo "the Tibet of West Africa" in homage to the spiritual and mystic (Sufi) tradition of its clerics.

Geography

Fouta-Djallon consists mainly of rolling

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s, at an average elevation of about 900 m (3,000 ft). The highest point, Mount Loura, rises to 1,515 m (4,970 ft). The plateau consists of thick

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

formations that overlie granitic basement rock.

Erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

and

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s has carved deep

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

s and

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

s into the sandstone. Fouta Djallon

It receives a great deal of rainfall, and is the headwaters of four major rivers and other medium ones: * Tinkisso River (major upriver tributary of the

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

) *

Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...

Senegal River The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a river in West Africa; much of its length mark ...

* Pongo River * Nunez River * Konkouré River * * Rio Kapatchez * Mellacorée River It is, thus, sometimes called the watertower (''chateau d'eau'' in French literature) of West Africa. Some authors also refer to Fouta Jallon as the "Switzerland of West Africa." This is a common expression whose origin may be unknown.

Population

The population consists predominantly of ing. also known as Fula or Fulani. In Fouta Djallon, their language is called Pular or Pulaar. The broader language area bears the name Fula/Fulfulde, and it is spoken in numerous countries in West and

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. The Fulani () population represents between 32.1% and 40% of the population in Guinea.

Economy

The largest town in the region is

Labé Labé ( Pular: 𞤂𞤢𞤦𞤫) is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capital Conakry in terms of economic i ...

. Mainly rural the economy covers

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

(cattle, sheep, goats), agriculture, gathering, trading, and marginal tourism. The Fulbe practice a form of natural farming that can be recognized today as biointensive agriculture. The region's main cash crops are

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s and other

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s. The main field crop is fonio, although

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

is grown in richer soils. Most soils degrade quickly and are highly acidic with aluminum toxicity, which limits the range of crops that can be grown without significant

soil management Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance (such as soil fertility or soil mechanics). It includes soil conservation, soil amendment, and optimal soil health. In agricult ...

Biointensive agriculture

Sometime in the late 18th century, the Fulɓe in Fouta Djallon developed a type of biointensive agriculture, probably out of necessity, since the conquered indigenous women were taken into the households of their

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

overlords whose livestock became their responsibility. Combining

and sedentary agriculture into an efficient system of agropastoralism required a new way of organizing daily life. Livestock, which included horses and cattle, ate more and produced more waste than what the indigenous farmers were accustomed. Since the livestock had to be protected from wildlife at night, they were brought into the family compound, referred to by the French as a ''tapade'', and locally as ''cuntuuje'' (sing. ''suntuure'') in the Pular language. Today, livestock graze in open areas during the day but are sheltered in corrals during the night, except for goats, which are permitted to manage on their own within limits. A similar pattern must have developed by the latter part of the 18th into the 19th century. Nonetheless, the disposal of livestock waste, which became ''woman's work,'' required a systematic way of disposing of it. And, over time, the women worked out a method for doing so. In

organic gardening Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety pres ...

, their solution is called sheet composting or mulching. Over time, the women mixed a variety of other

organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

with the manure (kitchen scraps, harvest residues, and vegetative materials from a living fence or hedgerow) and piled it each day on their garden beds and trees to decompose and become nutritious

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

. In the 20th century, livestock among the Fulɓe shifted from large animals to smaller types. Horses, perhaps due to the

tsetse fly Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies) are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Gloss ...

, decreased, while

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

, sheep, pigs, and poultry increased, and n'dama cattle remain an integral asset. Permaculture Zones

The tapade gardens of Fouta Djallon have been highly researched by international scholars from various disciplines. This research has revealed that the cuntuuje system has a higher soil nutrient level than any other soil in the region. Almost all labor, except for the initial preparation, is performed and managed by women and children, in the past and now, within each family group. The gardens are important for both food and cash crops for their families. PLEC, a project of the

United Nations University The is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve list of global issues, global issues related to Human development ...

, measured yields on 6.5 ha from tapade fields at Misiide Heyre, Fouta Djallon and found that maize yielded up to 7 t/ha, cassava 21 t/ha, sweet potatoes 19 t/ha, and groundnuts (peanuts) about 8 t/ha. Each suntuure is about 1-hectare (2.5 acres) on average, so referring to them as gardens is not accurate, neither for their size nor complexity. The cuntuuje represents a

systems approach Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...

to food production, and is distinguished by their agrodiversity, as well as the way the people intensively use and maximize a limited amount of land. Today, the cuntuuje gardens continue to produce a significant quantity and variety of agricultural products. The living fences that surround each suntuure are not just a barrier to keep out people, wild animals, and domestic livestock. In the

permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...

vocabulary, the fence is a vegetative

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of Soil compaction, compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a b ...

, and is instrumental in the process of

nutrient cycling A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cyc ...

and nutrient retention within the suntuure. In other words, the cuntuuje represent a

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

biointensive Biointensive agriculture is an organic farming, organic agriculture, agricultural system that focuses on achieving maximum Crop yield, yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and sustaining the soil fertil ...

polyculture In agriculture, polyculture is the practice of growing more than one crop species together in the same place at the same time, in contrast to monoculture, which had become the dominant approach in developed countries by 1950. Traditional example ...

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

and

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

, housing one or more

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

and are examples of what we know today to be a permaculture design. The graphic in this section is a mind map of the internal zones and sectors found typically in a suntuure environment. The interior of the suntuure, Zones 1-3 (internal gate, entryway, privacy screen, and residence) are reserved primarily for family members. It is in Zones 4 and 5 (the hoggo and suntuure living fence) where most activities of daily life occur. Here, visitors are greeted at a secondary shelter or

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, work on gardens (hoggos) is organized, children spend the day in play and work if of age, and afternoon prayers, naps, conversations, and meals occur until dark. Zone 6 is the outside world. In 2003, the cuntuuje of Fuuta-Jalon were recognized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( UNFAO) as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems.Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)"Tapade Cultivation System, Guinea,"
A project of the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization.

Notes

References

Sources

* A. Demougeo

* Boubacar Barry ttp://www.webfuuta.net/bibliotheque/bubakar_barry/bokarBiro/tdm.html Bokar Biro, le dernier grand almamy du Fouta-Djallon* Christopher Harriso
French Islamic policy in the Fuuta-Jalon 1909-1912
* D. P. Cantrelle, M. Dupir

* David Robinson (1985

* Gustav Deveneaux

* Hanson, John H. (1996) ''Migration, Jihad and Muslim Authority in West Africa: the Futanke colonies in Karta'' Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, * J. Suret-Canal

* J. Suret-Canal

* J. Suret-Canal

* Joseph Earl Harris (1965) ttp://www.webfuuta.net/bibliotheque/joseph_harris/fouta_diallon_history/contents.html The Kingdom of Fouta-Diallon* Kevin Shillingto
Fuuta-Jalon: Nineteenth Century
* Louis Tauxie

* Marguerite Verdat

* Paul Mart

* Shaikou Bald�

* Terry Alfor

* Thierno Diallo (1972

* Thierno Diall