The Role of Social Capital of Riau Women Farmer Groups in Building Collective Action for Tropical Peatland Restoration

Abstract

Collective action is important when the activities and costs of restoration cannot all be internalized by the government or when urgent maintenance is required beyond the scope of the restoration project. Collective action can be influenced by social capital. In this study, we examine components of social capital and the factors that affect them. Using key informant interview, household survey, and participant observation, we also identify the extent to which social capital is related to collective action. We found that women farmer groups have high social capital, which has led to strong collective action. Social capital in Dompas’ women groups is characterized by the norms of trust and reciprocity. Strong trust and reciprocity are driven by shared culture and values and supported by kinship. Social capital arises from and is reflected in the interactions between individuals in the group. It is naturally embedded within the community, supported by strong motivation and commitment, primarily to improve the family welfare. The social capital established influenced and drove collective action, which contributes to successful management of the women farmer groups’ action arena. This paper highlights the evidence of social capital and its relation to collective action in a case from restoration in the Global South. We suggest that for a restoration action to successfully mobilize voluntary, active participation from the community, the intervention should be designed with an emphasis on establishing social capital.

Strengthening Community Social Capital in Peatland Management

“…With such an approach, it seems as if the improvement of conditions and the improvement of people's living standards is carried out efficiently, but in fact the independence of the community cannot grow in a healthy manner. That is why it is often found that projects financed by the govern-ment are poorly maintained and not used optimally (Jalil, et al, 2021). On the other hand, purely self-help projects that are planned, financed, and implemented by the community are rarely neglected.…”

Developing an Integrated Capitals Approach to Understanding Wildfire Vulnerability: Preliminary Considerations from a Literature Review

“…Examples from the Global South (in countries like Nepal, India, Seychelles and Indonesia - Hiratsuka et al, 2019;Chauhan et al, 2021;Etongo et al, 2021) and Western countries are found to build a stronger nexus between policy makers and scientists (Narayanan et al, 2009;Tabara et al, 2003;Huber-Stearns et al, 2021) by the integration of spatial data and models of wildfire behaviour in decision making. Relevant is the contribution that the impact of wildfires has on strengthening communities with local institutions such as municipalities and fire fighters as evidenced in Australia (Mc Dougall et al, 2014) and in developing countries like Nepal and Indonesia, where collective actions enforced rules for risk mitigation (Sapkota et al, 2015;Jalil et al, 2021). In Mediterranean countries voluntary initiatives at local levels and a series of structural and relational bonding between communities and institutions are found to statistically explain the community's operational capacity and perception of arson level (Górriz-Mifsud et al, 2019).…”

“…Although recent studies are addressing some of these measures (Górriz-Mifsud et al, 2019;McDougall et al, 2014;Jalil et al, 2021), there is not yet consideration in risk analysis of the importance that training, capacity building and social bonding between citizens and institutions may have to reduce vulnerability. Ways to achieve this integration are under investigation in the FirEUrisk project at the time this paper is proposed.…”

Sustainability of Palm Oil Business Partnerships through the Role of Social Capital and Local Wisdom: Evidence from Palm Oil Plantations in Indonesia

“…Social networks and participation are important dimensions of social capital in business partnerships between farmers and palm oil companies [98]. Apart from sharing their knowledge through social networks and building strong relationships with the company [99,100], farmers may also engage in decision making and policy implementation to improve the sustainability of their partnerships.…”