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Research in social sciences has not paid much attention to the cattle trade in sub-Saharan Africa. This lack of interest is probably due to the preconception that shepherds sell very few of their animais and when they do, they do not follow a market logics. According to an opposite view, the sales of animais in breeding areas develop regularly and can thus be predicted. Setting aside these simplistic notions, we want to show here that cattle trade in Africa is not only an industry but also a complex social system. We review the main centres for stock fairs and the individual actors in the trade: cattle traders and a whole range of “go-betweens.” It is as convoy herders that sons of Fulani shepherds succeed in entering this trade in Adamawa, thus making the link between two symbiotic activities.