Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria

Climate variability is increasingly gaining recognition as a factor exacerbating risks to peace in Africa, particularly in contexts characterized by weak institutions and fragile agri-food systems. Existing literature has highlighted the intricate indirect pathways that can lead to increasing confli...

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Autores principales: Belli, Anna, Villa, Victor, Mastrorillo, Marina, Scognamillo, Antonio, Song, Chun, Ignaciuk, Adriana, Pacillo, Grazia
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175599
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author Belli, Anna
Villa, Victor
Mastrorillo, Marina
Scognamillo, Antonio
Song, Chun
Ignaciuk, Adriana
Pacillo, Grazia
author_browse Belli, Anna
Ignaciuk, Adriana
Mastrorillo, Marina
Pacillo, Grazia
Scognamillo, Antonio
Song, Chun
Villa, Victor
author_facet Belli, Anna
Villa, Victor
Mastrorillo, Marina
Scognamillo, Antonio
Song, Chun
Ignaciuk, Adriana
Pacillo, Grazia
author_sort Belli, Anna
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate variability is increasingly gaining recognition as a factor exacerbating risks to peace in Africa, particularly in contexts characterized by weak institutions and fragile agri-food systems. Existing literature has highlighted the intricate indirect pathways that can lead to increasing conflicts following a climatic shock, including reduced agricultural yields, increased food insecurity, and other socio-economic channels that are highly context-specific as well as difficult to quantify. This study investigates the nexus between climate variability (proxied by temperature anomalies) and violent conflicts as mediated by child acute malnutrition in Nigeria. Starting from previous quantitative analyses that implicitly assumed the existence of a singular transmission pathway linking climate variability to conflict, this study employs a structural equation model that accommodates the presence of multiple, albeit unobserved, mediating factors. In doing so, it pioneers the use of children’s nutritional indicators as mediating factors to capture the multidimensional nature of the climate–conflict relationship. The novel approach proposed for this analysis increases the accuracy of estimating the indirect impacts of climate variability on conflict, as mediated by child nutritional outcomes, and contributes to the literature linked to the humanitarian, development and peace nexus. From a policy perspective, our findings aim to inform and support identifying policies and interventions aimed at mitigating the threat posed by climate variability to human security through the nutrition channel.
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spelling CGSpace1755992025-12-08T09:54:28Z Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria Belli, Anna Villa, Victor Mastrorillo, Marina Scognamillo, Antonio Song, Chun Ignaciuk, Adriana Pacillo, Grazia malnutrition temperature anomalies nigeria violence Climate variability is increasingly gaining recognition as a factor exacerbating risks to peace in Africa, particularly in contexts characterized by weak institutions and fragile agri-food systems. Existing literature has highlighted the intricate indirect pathways that can lead to increasing conflicts following a climatic shock, including reduced agricultural yields, increased food insecurity, and other socio-economic channels that are highly context-specific as well as difficult to quantify. This study investigates the nexus between climate variability (proxied by temperature anomalies) and violent conflicts as mediated by child acute malnutrition in Nigeria. Starting from previous quantitative analyses that implicitly assumed the existence of a singular transmission pathway linking climate variability to conflict, this study employs a structural equation model that accommodates the presence of multiple, albeit unobserved, mediating factors. In doing so, it pioneers the use of children’s nutritional indicators as mediating factors to capture the multidimensional nature of the climate–conflict relationship. The novel approach proposed for this analysis increases the accuracy of estimating the indirect impacts of climate variability on conflict, as mediated by child nutritional outcomes, and contributes to the literature linked to the humanitarian, development and peace nexus. From a policy perspective, our findings aim to inform and support identifying policies and interventions aimed at mitigating the threat posed by climate variability to human security through the nutrition channel. 2025-05-12 2025-07-10T14:28:08Z 2025-07-10T14:28:08Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175599 en Limited Access SAGE Publications Belli, A.; Villa, V.; Mastrorillo, M.; Scognamillo, A.; Song, C.; Ignaciuk, A.; Pacillo, G. (2025) Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria. Journal of Peace Research , Online first paper(2025-05-12). ISSN: 0022-3433
spellingShingle malnutrition
temperature anomalies
nigeria
violence
Belli, Anna
Villa, Victor
Mastrorillo, Marina
Scognamillo, Antonio
Song, Chun
Ignaciuk, Adriana
Pacillo, Grazia
Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title_full Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title_fullStr Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title_short Malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world: A mediation analysis on the climate–conflict nexus in Nigeria
title_sort malnutrition and violent conflict in a heating world a mediation analysis on the climate conflict nexus in nigeria
topic malnutrition
temperature anomalies
nigeria
violence
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175599
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