Ecofeminism, Deforestation, and Women’s Agroforestry Initiatives in the Congo Basin

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 10, October 2026 | pp. 309–322

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001337

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Ecofeminism, Deforestation, and Women’s Agroforestry Initiatives in the Congo Basin

Names of Author: Solange Mbemba¹, Claire Lefèvre², & Hiroko Sato³

Author's Affiliation: ¹Department of Environmental Sciences, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; ²Department of Geography, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France; ³Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.

Abstract:
Commercial logging, slash-and-burn agricultural expansion, and charcoal production threaten the ecological integrity of the Congo Basin rainforest, undermining biodiversity and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. Because rural women rely directly on non-timber forest products, medicinal plants, and forest soils for household nutrition and income, deforestation disproportionately erodes women’s economic security and cultural autonomy. Yet international forest conservation schemes such as REDD+ frequently marginalize women from land-use consultations and carbon-credit benefit sharing. This paper examines grassroots women-led agroforestry and forest restoration cooperatives in the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. Anchored in African ecofeminism and environmental justice frameworks, the research combines participatory forest mapping with 46 interviews involving female agroforesters. The findings indicate that securing women’s communal forest tenure and funding indigenous agroforestry networks yield superior ecological regeneration and household food resilience.

Keywords: Ecofeminism, deforestation, agroforestry, Congo Basin, forest conservation, women’s land tenure, biodiversity, environmental justice

Manuscript Timeline: Received: September 08, 2026; Revised: October 08, 2026; Accepted: October 12, 2026; Published: October 15, 2026.

Citation: Mbemba, S., Lefèvre, C., & Sato, H. (2026). Ecofeminism, Deforestation, and Women’s Agroforestry Initiatives in the Congo Basin. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(10), 309–322. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001337

Subscribe to read the full article: https://www.internationalscholarsjournals.org/subscribe-to-read