Climate Change and Mental Health in Guinea-Bissau: Insights from women engaged in rural-urban mobility

IntroductionClimate change and extreme weather events are increasingly recognized as major stressors on mental health, yet research in West Africa remains scarce. Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS), faces intensifying extreme weather events, including flooding, heat, and sea-level rise, which intersect with poverty, political instability, and limited health infrastructure. This study investigates how environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities associated with climate change influence the mental well-being of women engaged in rural-urban mobility. MethodsEthnographic fieldwork was conducted among 27 Balanta women living temporarily in zinc-roofed dwellings at two docks in Bissau. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation, with oral consent. A narrative analytical approach was employed to examine lived experiences, focusing on climate-related exposures, psychosocial stressors, and collective coping mechanisms.ResultsParticipants described heightened psychological distress manifested as fatigue, anxiety, and sleep disruption related to recurrent heat, humidity, heavy rainfall, and tidal flooding. Rain-related sleep deprivation and caregiving demands emerged as particularly salient stressors. Structural inequities, including economic precarity and lack of access to health services, intensified mental strain. At the same time, strong communal organization and the replication of familiar rural social structures in urban space functioned as protective mechanisms, mitigating isolation and fostering psychological resilience.ConclusionFindings underscore the compounded mental health risks faced by women engaged in rural-urban mobility while temporarily living in climate-exposed urban settings. Community solidarity operates as a key resilience mechanism, highlighting the need for integrated, gender-responsive, and community-anchored mental health and climate adaptation policies in Guinea-Bissau and comparable SIDS contexts.