GENDERED PRECARITY AND RESILIENCE: THE PSYCHOSOCIAL BURDEN AND COPING MECHANISMS OF WOMEN IN THE ILOBU-IFON-ERIN-OSUN COMMUNAL LAND CONFLICT, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Communal land conflicts in Nigeria inflict profound human costs, yet the gendered and psycho-social dimensions of this violence remain critically understudied. This qualitative study investigates the lived experiences of women in the protracted communal land conflict among Ilobu, Ifon-Osun, and Erin-Osun communities in Osun State, Nigeria, between 2021 and 2025. Employing a phenomenological research design, data were collected through 12 in-depth interviews, 3 focus group discussions, and 9 key informant interviews with affected women, community leaders, and health workers. Thematic analysis reveals that women bear a triple burden of precarity: experiencing severe economic dis-empowerment through the destruction of farms and markets; enduring significant psychological trauma manifesting as anxiety, insomnia, and somatic symptoms; and shouldering the intensified care-giving labour of holding families together amidst displacement and social disintegration. Notwithstanding the near-total absence of formal institutional support, women demonstrate remarkable resilience through culturally embedded coping mechanisms. These include reliance on religious faith and prayer networks, participation in informal savings and lending circles (esusu), and the formation of social solidarity networks for mutual care and survival. The study concludes that existing securitized conflict responses are inadequate. It recommends a paradigm shift towards integrating gender-sensitive, trauma-informed psycho-social support and economic empowerment programs into peace-building frameworks to address the root causes of women's vulnerability and leverage their inherent resilience for sustainable community recovery.