Dukawa homeland is hilly, rocky country where rivers provide much fish and islands serve as fertile land for their crops. They make their living as fishermen and farmers, mainly raising millet and guinea corn in the highlands and onions along the rivers. Other crops include maize, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and beans. The Dukawa grow their own tobacco, and many of them enjoy smoking. Town dwellers also have large farms in the bush where they live for part of the year.
Deep moats surround the walls, outside which is another trench with low walls and prickly thorns.
Some Dukawa live in small rural villages outside these towns. Their homes are small huts with walls only four feet high and containing mud beds, beneath which a fire burns. Successful hunters and warriors wore black shirts and bracelets made of the skins their victims. Hunting continues to be an important cultural aspect of Dukawa life. Arrows are sometimes fired out of guns, especially when hunting elephants.