Stereotypes and Marginalization of Fulani Groups in Ghana

Seminar paper in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, University for Development studies, language: English, abstract: Stereotypes and prejudices of Fulani pastoralists go beyond just discourses of examining the stereotypes and prejudices vis-à-vis the Fulani in Ghana, particularly the pastoral Fulani. This paper argues that these attitudes towards Fulani pastoralists in Ghana have become an important part of national and local community policies and discourses to help to exclude the pastoralists and to structure pastoralist community-relations. Over the years, there have been a significant coverage of issues relating to the Fulanis, however, most of that coverage has to do with the Fulani herdsmen. Part of it is largely due to the state policy of expulsion that poses the tendency of stereotypes, marginalization, and the practice of social exclusion. The relationship between the state and the Fulani pastoralists in Ghana, just like other countries in the West African sub-region is strained. National and local government officials generally consider nomadic pastoralism and the pastoral lifestyle to be an archaic form of production that is outdated.