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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the site of rural households in Benin, West Africa, particularly the interplay between women’s collective work in agriculture and their bargaining power within the household. It argues that in some of the most remote parts of the world, pre-capitalist forms of economic organisati

Paper long abstract:

Recent research has shown that climate change has a disproportionate impact on the food and water security of rural populations across the Global South (Tandon et al., 2022). When agriculture is threatened, as a form of employment and subsistence, vulnerable groups face disproportionate rates of malnourishment as they manage a decrease in food supply (Khatri-Chhetri, 2020). These poor health outcomes are compounded by the higher likelihood of experiencing gender-based violence (Hayward and Ayeb-Karlsson, 2021). While evidence of this interplay is becoming more established in scholarship, there is a pressing need for climate adaptation policies that address these interrelated threats. This paper investigates the lived realities of women in agriculture in rural West Africa, specifically through a qualitative study in rural Atakora, Benin. The research reveals how shifts in climate patterns significantly affect household nutrition and food security. By viewing women's agricultural cooperatives as gendered workplaces, the paper explores the impact of changing rainfall, crop diseases, and declining yields on women's roles in both productive and reproductive activities. Findings show how women adapt by diversifying diets, which affects household bargaining power dynamics and incidence of intimate partner violence. This study highlights the adverse effects of climate change on women – and their innovative forms of adaptation – by connecting to broader issues of food and physical security, including freedom from violence in the household. It calls for the expansion of existing adaptation frameworks to take into account the lived realities of the polycrisis for rural populations in West Africa and beyond.