The Dagaari of Burkina Faso

The Dagaari of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 645,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mole-Dagbani offshoot who migrated into the Sahel by the 14th century and further south by the 17th, known across the Ghana-Burkina Faso-Cote d'Ivoire border zone for the sacred gyil xylophone tradition passed from father to son through initiation. They mostly adhere to Animism and Northern Dagara is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Dagaari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Northern Dagara (dgi)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 645,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012388
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Dagaari of Burkina Faso

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

40%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Dagara
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Dagara, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Dagara:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Northern Dagara:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 Bible Society of Burkina Faso✓✓✓
2017 Edition✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Northern Dagara bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Dagaari are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Dagaari:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Dagaari of Burkina Faso

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Dagara, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 102365) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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