COMMUNAL TYPOLOGY OF LIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY IN MATÉRI AND BANIKOARA, BORDER AREAS OF NORTHERN BENIN

Background: Since 2021, armed groups spreading from the Sahel have turned the northern communes of Benin into places of refuge for displaced people. An average vulnerability score says little about how deficits combine inside a household, or how they differ from one commune to the next. Methods: A multisector household survey was carried out from 29 August to 4 September 2026 among 250 households in Matéri (156) and Banikoara (94): host families, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and refugees or asylum seekers. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and its IPCC variant were built from 33 sub-components grouped into eight components. A multiple correspondence analysis followed by hierarchical clustering was run on 16 active variables. Results: Both communes show the same moderate LVI (0.468 in Banikoara, 0.464 in Matéri), but not the same structure. Sensitivity outweighs exposure (0.738 and 0.700 against 0.188 and 0.213). Four household types emerged: direct victims of violence and dispossession (17.2%), households with preserved livelihoods (14.4%), households under water and housing stress who sell assets to cope (38.4%), and households in severe food insecurity, often headed by women (30.0%). The third type dominates Banikoara (61.7% of households) and the fourth dominates Matéri (41.0%). Commune and type are strongly associated (?² = 39.9, df = 3, p < 0.001; Cramér\'s V = 0.40). Conclusion: Aid in these two communes is better targeted by household profile and by arrondissement than by displacement status alone: water and housing services in Banikoara, food assistance and recovery support for female-headed households in Matéri, and protection and asset restitution for direct victims in both.