Farmers' Contribution to Agricultural Social Capital: Evidence from Southern Spain

Abstract

Social capital is the whole set of shared norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs that promote cooperation among individuals within the community and that has proved to be a key factor in explaining development processes. This article aims to provide an analytically reliable notion of social capital within the farming sector and a methodological tool for empirically measuring how social capital is accumulated at the farmer level. The theoretical framework proposed is based on the multidimensionality of the complex concept of social capital. Thus, to develop a comprehensive index for social capital, we identify three dimensions of the concept, structural, relational, and cognitive social capital, each one also comprising several subdimensions. This integrative approach permits creation of a composite indicator of the agricultural social capital accumulated at the farmer level, further identifying socioeconomic factors that influence its accumulation at that level. We empirically apply this methodological approach to farmers in Andalusia in southern Spain as a case study. This research provides an interesting starting point for informing policymakers about social capital and helping them implement the necessary programs to facilitate sustainable development in the agricultural sector. * We express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers.

Knowledge flows and linkage with universities: the vision of Mexican farmers

“…The first refers to building trust to enable farmers to engage with their peers and then strengthen production and knowledge networks (Sligo and Massey 2007;Thorsøe and Kjeldsen 2016). The second concerns to the building of social capital, a complex and multidimensional concept, which is understood as the set of norms, values, attitudes and beliefs shared that promotes cooperation between individuals in a community (Ostrom 1999;Gómez-Limón et al 2014). The accumulation of social capital is seen as a factor contributing to the development of communities in rural areas.…”

“…Concerning to knowledge sharing among farmers, Mashavave et al (2012) explore the connectedness between small farmers, through social interactions, to improve the access and sharing of technology, and specifically focus on the mechanism of learning alliances. More recently, issues related to social capital have occupied the interest of researchers and practitioners to understand the exchange of knowledge among farmers (Teilmann 2012;del Real Navarro 2013;Gómez-Limón et al 2014).…”

Building social capital within the framework of agricultural cooperatives development in rural Nepal

“…Gómez-Limón et al (2013) emphasize the importance of association of grassroots people in rural development endeavours. They contend that such associations help foster social capital building in rural communities which in turn significantly influence the dynamics of development in rural areas with ultimate impact on the viability of rural communities and social cohesion.…”

“…The concept of social capital has been analysed from various perspectives using various tools and indicators (Gómez-Limón et al 2013). For example, Narayan and Cassidy (2001) assert that interpretations of what social capital is and is not are diverse at operational level and so are the methods used to measure it.…”

“…Other scholars have measured the social capital in particular settings by developing and using the Social Capital Index (SCI) (Krishna 2004;Gómez-Limón et al 2013).…”