The Bemba are the largest ethnic group in the Northern Province of Zambia. Seventeen or eighteen ethnic groups in this general area of Zambia comprise the Bemba-speaking peoples, and they form with the Bemba a closely related culture cluster. All of these peoples are predominantly agricultural and have a matrilineal-matriiocal emphasis. They practice shifting cultivation, growing finger millet ( Eleusine corocana ), which is the staple crop in the eastern part of the area, including among the Bemba, and manioc among the western groups.