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

Determinants of Household Nutrition Security in Countries in Protracted Crisis: Evidence from South Sudan

Undernutrition is a considerable challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in countries affected by a protracted crisis, but the literature lacks information on the underlying mechanisms influencing micro- and macronutrients, and appropriate analytical tools are needed to assist policymakers and implementers. The paper contributes to filling this gap, focusing on the Western Bahr el Ghazal state in South Sudan and using primary data collected in May–June 2019 for a statistically representative sample of households. The literature typically uses one micro- or macronutrient as a proxy of nutritional status. On the contrary, the study applied a MANCOVA with an artificial dependent variable, including protein, vitamin A, and heme iron, in a single experiment to discover the variables that better explain household nutritional status. Dietary diversity explains the largest proportion of variance in household nutritional status. The importance of the variables in explaining the variance in the specific micro- and macronutrients depends on the explanatory variable. Therefore, the results suggest the possible misinterpretation of undernutrition using one nutrient. Moreover, they highlight the importance of a multisectoral approach to the problem with a central role played by agriculture and the urgency of the reinforcement of the humanitarian–development–peace nexus to improve household nutrition security in South Sudan.

Coping Strategies of Food Insecure Households in Conflict Areas: The Case of South Sudan

The surge in acute food insecurity due to conflict calls for sound evidence-based policymaking. Unfortunately, the knowledge on behaviours of households when they face a food shortage in these situations is under-reported in the literature. Our paper contributes to the covering of this gap by presenting the food consumption and livelihood-based coping mechanisms used by households in Western Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan, distinguishing between rural areas and the Wau Protection of Civilian camp. We used a descriptive research design and unique primary data collected by the submission of a survey to a sample of 838 households from July–August 2020. In the alarming hunger situation in the investigated areas, households deeply use coping mechanisms independently of their food security status. The majority of them are at the breakdown of their coping ability. The behaviours used by households indicate a wider social catastrophe that the long-term consequences of these mechanisms can further accentuate. Food assistance resulted in a relatively better situation in the Wau Protection of Civilian camp. The paper confirms the centrality of a humanitarian-development-peace approach to food security in the investigated area, where the support of livelihood strategies and opportunities for households and the promotion of sound institutions have paramount roles.