Kolawolé Saïd HOUNKPONOU^{1, 2,}, Rodéric Roland Singbénou SAGBO^{2, 3}, Mondukpè Viviane GBENOU^{3, 4}, Sedjro Gilles Armel NAGO^{3, 4}, Jacob Afouda YABI^{1, 2}

Climate change, manifesting as frequent floods, constitutes a systemic threat to food security in West Africa, particularly in Benin where maize production is essential. The problem lies in the heterogeneous vulnerability of actors in the maize agricultural value chain, a differentiation often overlooked below national scales. This study aims to analyze the differentiation of flood impacts on the seven categories of maize agricultural value chain actors. The hypothesis posits that the effect of an actor's position on the experienced impacts is significantly modulated by age, gender, and education level. A mixed sampling approach (probabilistic and snowball) was used to survey 1,128 value chain actors in Southern Benin. Moderate logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the significant interaction terms. The most common impacts are poor sales, financial loss, corn grain rot, poor digestion of consumed corn, and the decrease in income respectively for input and seed suppliers, producers, animal feed manufacturers and suppliers, processors, traders and consumers, and carriers. Vulnerability is a highly heterogeneous product of social and structural interactions. Gender is the most divisive moderator, while education confers technical resilience but paradoxically increases vulnerability to systemic failures. Age offers experience-based resilience while increasing logistical constraints for carriers and traders. The results highlight the imperative of adopting an intersectional risk management strategy, where interventions must be specifically tailored to socio-demographic profiles to avoid exacerbating inequalities within the maize agricultural value chain.

agricultural value chain, vulnerability, floods, moderation, cereals