🐄 The Fulani’s deep roots — and a Green Sahara signal

A large genome study of 460 Fulani people from 18 communities across the Sahel finds a shared Fulani ancestry that likely formed when the Sahara was green and early herders moved through North Africa.

That core ancestry stretches west to east and then blends locally with neighbors — more West African in the west, more Nilo-Saharan/Afro-Asiatic contacts toward the center and east.

Across all groups, there’s also a deep North African (Iberomaurusian-related) layer, and modeling points to roughly 80% West African–related plus ~20% North African–related ancestry overall.

Signals of founder events and later growth match historical expansions recorded in the Sahel.

Takeaway: The Fulani genetic landscape is best explained by a Green Sahara–era origin plus region-by-region mixing as communities spread across the Sahel.

Source: Fortes-Lima et al., 2025. Population history and admixture of the Fulani people from the Sahel.