The Mafa, natively called Mofa, is an ethnic group localized in northern

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

with smaller populations in other African countries including

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

History

The Mafahay, a Mafa tribe, migrated from Roua and Sulede (which is west of Durum,

Mofu Mofu is a designation for various ethnic groups and languages they speak in northern Cameroon, near the border with Nigeria. The Mofu groups live in the Mandara Mountains of Cameroon's Far North Province. Some of these groups accept the name "Mof ...

proper), towards the northwest. The Bulahay tribe, meanwhile, migrated to the west, alongside the southern borders of the present Mafa territory. Eventually they also migrated northwards where the two tribes gradually intermixed, becoming the present-day Mafa.Mafa - The Mandara Mountains Homepage
Retrieved June 03, 2013, to 16: 31 pm.

Demography

Total population estimates vary between 2,000,000Boulet, J., ‘Les groupes humains’, Le nord du Cameroun, des hommes, une region, Collection Memoires 102, (ed) Jean Boutrais, ORSTOM, Paris 1984:119 and 3,000,000.Muller-Kosack, G.
Cry for Death
Mandaras Publishing (www.mandaras.info). London, 1999 (4p) A 2010 source placed the total population of the Mafa at approximately 3,000,000. Hallaire indicates that population density in the area is between 99 and 140 inhabitants per square kilometer.
/ref> According to Lavergne, the Mafa are split into two tribal sections, being the ‘Mafa proper’ (referred to as Maf-Mafa or ‘Mafahay), and the ‘Bulahai’. The Mafas live in the central part of the Northern Mandaras, which is a region formed by the North area of the Mokolo Plateau and the mountains of northern

Mokolo Mokolo is the departmental capital and largest city of the Mayo-Tsanaga department, in the Far North Province of Cameroon. It is the fourth largest city in the Far North Province, after Maroua, Yagoua, and Kousséri. It is located in the Mandara M ...

. The Mafa society is divided into several cantons: Moskota; Koza; Gaboua (Koza district); ( Mokolo arrondissement). There are also about 1m Mafa in Kughum (

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

). The Mafa belong to the

Chadic The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely ...

language group. They speak the Mafa language, with three different dialects: Central Mafa, West Mafa, and East Mafa. Together with many other languages of other African peoples (such as

Mada Mada () is a term used in both Hindu theology and mythology. It is one of the Arishadvargas. It refers to one of the six enemies of the mind or a vice according to the Hindu scriptures. It is the Hindu equivalent of Pride from the seven deadly ...

, Wuzlam ( Uldeme), Muyang and Ɗugwor ( Dugur)), they form part of the Mafa-south sub-group. Religiously, the Mafa population is 45%

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, 30%

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and 15% practitioners of

traditional African religion The beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse, and include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and are passed do ...

. The Christian population is composed of

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(60%) and

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(30%), other Christian (7%), and Independent Christian (3%).

Agriculture

Traditional Mafa agriculture depends on a wide assortment of

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 ...

techniques. The hillsides are secured with constructed terraces, that according to an author, "have reached a state of exceptional perfection". Other ethno-engineering procedures include: * small-scale irrigation * canalization * drainage system Likewise, agriculturists in the mountains practice an extensive variety of

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

management procedures, including: * crop rotation and mixed cropping * agro-forestry * biomass * nutrient management They also use an intensive livestock-raising system in the management of the fertility of their soil. Livestock includes smallstock and a limited amount of cattle. In the dry season between December and May, livestock is allowed to roam free, so he can consume crop residues and leaves of wild bushes. During the farming season, livestock is put in a pen and fed. The manure that accumulates in the stables is collected, preserved and finally spread out in the fields at the end of the dry season. The intensity and ingenuity of Mafa nutrient management is illustrated by the fact that termites are used to digest harvest residues and then fed to the Chickens.

Mining

Alluvial methods of mining were used by Mafa people to search for iron sand and utilize it for magnetite ore in

''Jesus Mafa''

In the 1970s, the

French Catholic The Catholic Church in France, Gallican Church, or French Catholic Church, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. Established in the 2nd century in unbroken communion with the bishop of Rome, it was sometim ...

priest François Vidil collaborated with the Mafa community to create a series of artwork known as '' Vie de Jesus Mafa'' (Life of Jesus Mafa, or simply Jesus Mafa), which depicts various events in the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

using

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

depictions rather than

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. These images were actually depictions of real-world recreations of biblical scenes by Mafa people, and have since become popular worldwide, and perhaps especially among

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, as an inculturated form of Catholic

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

. The works were soon after acquired by the Josephites, a religious society of priests serving African Americans. A collection remains at their seminary in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where their pastoral center continues to sell prints. The ''Jesus Mafa'' collection has also been added to the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Notable Mafa people

* Manaouda Malachie * Barrister James Bathnna * Gubai Gatama * Ndokobai Dadak * Moussa Bongoyok * Jerry Nduvna Nwele * Moise Sakava * Yaoudam Rachel * Esther Usman Walabai * Yusuf Nduvna Luka

References

External links

Mandara Mountains Homepage

English To Mafa Translator
{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Cameroon Ethnic groups in Nigeria