The Brifo people are believed to
have hailed from Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. With varied backgrounds, the
Brifo are sparsely located around the boundaries of Upper West Region and
Northern Region of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire.
One of the major settlements of
the Brifo tribe is Da-eyiri, also known as Janselee, it was founded by Da-e, a
farming settler about three decades ago. Da-eyiri is one of the fastest growing
Brifo communities in the Wa West district of the Upper West Region of Ghana.
The community is located between Nahaa in the Wa West and Logu in the Wa East
districts. Da-eyiri is blessed with excellent architectural designs and earth
ware pots which could serve as tourist attractions.
Agriculture is their mainstream
economic activity with emphasis on food cropping, piggery, and poultry rearing.
Pottery and basket weaving are other economic ventures they engage in,
especially the women. While official currency exist in the tribe (Souma is
their traditional currency), barter system of trade as well as the use of
cowries for customary and business activities is common practices among the
Brifos.
The people of Da-Eyiri are
hard-working yet they lack a lot of basics in life. They are being confronted
by issues like child labor, teenage marriages, high school drop outs –
especially among girls –, a rampant rural-urban drift among boys, violations of
women rights, and limited access to health and educational facilities. Most of
these drawbacks have customary undertones. For instance, girls are married out
for cattle, and women are much seen and treated as estates than human beings.
Bougri is a
traditional festival celebrated among the Brifo people and it comes of around
March-April each year.