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This seminar challenges the mainstream tendency to treat ecofeminism as abstract theory or symbolic metaphor. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with feminist civil society actors engaged in mangrove restoration in the Niger Delta, I argue that ecofeminism in this context is not simply a conceptual framework but a lived, material practice of ecological repair, social reproduction, and collective survival.
Women in the Niger Delta are frequently represented in academic and policy debates primarily as victims of oil pollution, environmental degradation, and gendered violence. While these realities are undeniable, such narratives can obscure women’s agency and leadership in rebuilding damaged environments. Through collective mangrove planting initiatives, feminist civil society networks are restoring degraded shorelines and regenerating aquatic ecosystems that sustain everyday life. As mangroves return, so do periwinkles and crabs, creating opportunities for women to secure food, generate income, and reweave community relations.
Participants often describe their work through the phrase “we plant to live, we live to plant,” capturing an understanding of ecological restoration as inseparable from dignity, culture, and survival. Mangrove replanting becomes not only environmental action but also social repair, spiritual practice, and political intervention, reconnecting communities with ancestral ecological knowledge systems disrupted by colonial and petro-capitalist extraction.
By centering these grounded practices, the paper argues for rethinking ecofeminism beyond imagery and theory. Rather than metaphorical associations between women and nature, feminist ecological practices in the Niger Delta demonstrate how ecofeminism is enacted through embodied labor and collective care, generating a feminist ecology rooted in repair, resilience, and the making of livable futures.
About the speaker
Ms Amina Adebisi-Odofin
Amina Adebisi Odofin is an Affiliate Fellow at the African Leadership Centre and a PhD researcher at the Conflict and Development department at Ghent University, where she previously completed a master’s degree in Conflict and Development Studies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her research focuses on the politics of resource extraction, environmental justice, and gendered dimensions of conflict. Before entering academia, she worked as European Lead Campaigner at Greenpeace International, focusing on fossil fuel industry accountability.
About the Just Transitions and Interdisciplinary Peace (JTIP) Seminar Series
The JTIP Seminar Series involves regular presentations and discussions convened in a hyflex format, where speakers share their ongoing and impactful research on the themes outlined above. Participation is open to the general public, although the JTIP research group is based at the Global Institutes at King’s College London. Please get in touch if you want to be involved.
Event details
1.02Bush House North East Wing
Bush House North East Wing, 30 Aldwych, WC2B 4BG