Household And Community Social Capital Links To Smallholder Food Security Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Agricultural adaptation to climate change is critical for ensuring future food security. Social capital is important for climate change adaptation, but institutions and social networks at multiple scales (e.g., household, community, and institution) have been overlooked in studying agricultural climate change adaptation. We combine data from 13 sites in 11 low-income countries in East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia to explore how multiple scales of social capital relate to household food security outcomes among smallholder farmers. Using social network theory, we define three community organizational social network types (fragmented defined by lack of coordination, brokered defined as having a strong central actor, or shared defined by high coordination) and examine household social capital through group memberships. We find community and household social capital are positively related, with higher household group membership more likely in brokered and shared networks. Household group membership is associated with more than a 10% reduction in average months of food insecurity, an effect moderated by community social network type. In communities with fragmented and shared organizational networks, additional household group memberships is associated with consistent decreases in food insecurity, in some cases up to two months whereas in brokered networks, reductions in food insecurity are only associated with membership in credit groups. These effects are confirmed by hierarchical random effects models, which control for demographic factors. This suggests that multiple scales of social capital—both within and outside the household—are correlated with household food security. This social capital may both be bridging (across groups) and bonding (within groups) with different implications for how social capital structure affects food security. Efforts to improve food security could recognize the potential for both household and community level social networks and collaboration, which further research can capture by analyzing multiple scales of social capital data.

农业气候变化适应对保障未来粮食安全至关重要。社会资本（social capital）对气候变化适应具有重要意义，但多尺度（如家庭、社区与机构层面）的制度与社会网络在农业气候变化适应研究中却长期被忽视。本研究整合了东非、西非及南亚11个低收入国家共13个调研站点的数据，旨在探究小农群体中多尺度社会资本与家庭粮食安全结果之间的关联。本研究基于社会网络理论（social network theory），界定了三类社区组织社会网络类型：即因缺乏协调而形成的碎片化型、以强势核心行动者为特征的中介型，以及具备高协调度的共享型，并通过团体成员身份维度对家庭社会资本进行考察。研究发现，社区与家庭社会资本呈正相关关系，且家庭团体成员参与度更高的情况更常出现于中介型与共享型网络中。家庭团体成员身份与粮食不安全平均月数减少超10%存在关联，且这一效应会受到社区社会网络类型的调节。在碎片化型与共享型组织网络的社区中，额外的家庭团体成员身份与粮食不安全程度的持续降低存在关联，部分场景下可减少多达两个月的粮食不安全时长；而在中介型网络社区中，粮食不安全程度的降低仅与信贷团体成员身份相关。上述效应通过控制人口统计因素的分层随机效应模型得到了验证。这表明，家庭内外的多尺度社会资本均与家庭粮食安全存在关联。这类社会资本既可表现为跨群体的桥接型社会资本，也可表现为群体内部的黏合型社会资本，二者对社会资本结构如何影响粮食安全有着不同的作用路径。提升粮食安全的相关举措可充分重视家庭与社区层面社会网络及协作的潜力，而未来研究可通过分析多尺度社会资本数据来进一步挖掘这一潜力。