Kisumu is an ancient port city in western Kenya located on the shores of Lake Victoria; it constitutes the commercial, industrial and transport center for this region mainly because of its river and rail connections. Its name means a place of “sumo” barter in the Luo language and clearly represents the commercial character of the city. Despite a multi-ethnic population, Kenya's ethnic Luo tribe makes up most of the population of Kisumu City, Kenya's third largest city after Nairobi and Mombasa.

The Mousgoum people are a people of fishermen and breeders established in particular in Central Africa, particularly in northern Cameroon. It is made up of tall, robust and strong people strongly anchored in their traditions. Their ingenuity is illustrated by their unique habitat made up of huts with a particular shape evoking in a pictorial way egg shells, pottery or cannon shells, the term hut shell having finally imposed itself as the most used.

The Ivory Coast is full of a multiplicity of traditional areas, each with its own type of habitat. Each traditional habitat is adapted to the social structures and lifestyles of its indigenous populations. Indeed, the particular and intimate understanding of the living environment has as a corollary a perfect integration into the environment with a specific terminology composed of spatial descriptors serving not only to describe the physical space but also to define the relationship between space and the activities for which it supports, as well as the deep, symbolic and cultural aspects it contains. It is a breeding ground for the use of local materials such as earth, wood, raffia and other plants.