Climate Change, Resource Conflicts, and Rural Women's Empowerment in Nigeria Amid Democratic Erosion: A Feminist Political Economy Perspective
Publisher: Women's Studies International Forum
Author(s): Seun Bamidele
Date: 2026
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Cooperation, Gender, Governance, Protection and Access to Justice
Countries: Nigeria
The crises of climate change, resource conflicts, and the decline of democracy significantly impact the empowerment of rural women in Nigeria's agrarian areas. There is increasing awareness of how environmental damage, authoritarian rule, and gender-based marginalization are linked. However, there is still little scholarly and policy attention focused on the underlying structural issues. This paper highlights a feminist political economy viewpoint to explore how climate-related resource conflicts and elite land grabbing worsen the exclusion of rural women from land, livelihoods, and political power during times of democratic decline. I look at both historical and modern processes of authoritarian consolidation and capitalist growth that uphold patriarchal control over resources and governance, harming ecological resilience and gender equality. Based on abolition feminism, I suggest a framework that examines the combined harms of environmental damage, political oppression, and gendered disempowerment. This approach reveals opportunities for meaningful action in research, policy, and collective efforts aimed at promoting rural women's empowerment and fostering fair, life-affirming futures in Nigeria's complex socio-political environment.