A SEM Approach to the Direct and Indirect Links between WaSH Services and Access to Food in Countries in Protracted Crises: The Case of Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State, South Sudan

Maria Sassi
Additional contact information
Maria Sassi: Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia, Via S. Felice 5, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: As highlighted by the 2030 Agenda, access to food is a crucially important aspect of sustainable development. In this context, the association between WaSH services and access to food still needs to be clearly understood. This study investigates the direct and indirect impact of the WaSH environment of households on access to food, and the role of mediation variables and insecurity due to war and conflicts in South Sudan. We considered a statistically representative sample of 1382 households and used two structural equation models based on primary data. A basic model estimates association between household WaSH environment and food security directly and indirectly through the household livelihood-based coping capacity and poverty perception. Its extended version includes the indirect effect of insecurity due to war and conflicts. Results are theoretically coherent and demonstrate the relevance of the household WaSH environment for food security. The indirect effect of the absence of insecurity due to conflicts and war on food security adds to the basic model a statistically significant total indirect effect. From a policy perspective, the study suggests reinforcement of the capacity of the public sector for delivering WaSH services and the need for multi-sectoral solutions linking humanitarian, development, and peace approaches.

Keywords: WaSH; food security; structural equation model; South Sudan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9631/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9631/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9631-:d:447219

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().