Expert consultation on methodology for an information system on rural livelihoods and Sustainable Development Goals indicators on smallholder productivity and income 7 - 8 December, FAO headquarters

1. SOCIAL CAPITAL INDICATORS
COOPERATIVESAND PRODUCER
ORGANIZATIONS
May Hani
Policy Officer, Institutions and Rural Services
FAO

2. RuLIS Cluster 8: Community Characteristics
Source: Household surveys – community questionnaire
Offers:
• Insights on extent of social capital in the surveyed
communities
• Analysis of formal and informal MBOs, hard to capture by
HH questionnaire
• Drawing community profiles with insightful details on the
local context where HH operate

3. Social capital
“Social capital refers to the norms and networks that enable
collective action. It encompasses institutions, relationships,
and customs that shape the quality and quantity of a
society’s social interactions.”
RuLIS indicators on social capital are mainly focused on
collective action.
Indicators serve as a proxy of the community engagement
and the density of organizations/groups.

4. RuLIS Indicators for Social Capital
No. of indicators: 17
3 units of observation:
• Communities – 4 indicators
• Groups/organizations – 4 indicators
• Group members – 9 indicators
including gender-disaggregation
RuLIS measures existence of and level of participation in:
• Agricultural cooperatives
• Farmers’ groups
• Women’s (only?) groups
• Saving and credit groups (SCGs)
Question on terminology – farmers’ groups and women’s (only?) groups

5. Social capital – what is in the data
• Participation is reflected by no. of affiliated members of groups
by community
• Participation in MBOs is expressed as share of community
population (when latter is available)
• Share of each category in the total no. of MBOs/groups in a
given community
• Total population is the sum up of the reported populations of
the surveyed communities.
Comparability of data within and across countries
Influence of projects cycle resulting in annual fluctuation

6. Malawi
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%communities
Year
Communities with SCGs,
share of total communities
National
Rural
Urban
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%communities
year
communities with FGs,
share of total communities
National
Rural
Urban

7. Social Capital – what is in the data
Limitation:
Applies to population within surveyed communities
Community level indicators refer to the sample of
communities surveyed in each country – in a given year
Subject to differences in the definition of communities and
sampling design.
Does not reflect group size, maturity, activity or sector
Does not reflect income, value addition, access to inputs,
machinery, services, markets

8. 1. Communities
• Communities with Agricultural Cooperatives, % of total
communities
• Communities with Farmers’ Groups
• Communities with Savings and Credit Groups
• Communities with Women’s Groups
- size of MBOs, maturity, autonomy, sector
- assets, infrastructure, equipment
- links, networks, clusters and apex organizations

9. Malawi
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%communities
year
communities with agricultural cooperatives, share of total
communities
National
Rural
Urban

10. 2. Groups/Organizations
• Agricultural Cooperatives % of total MBOs in community
• Farmers’ Groups % of total MBOs in community
• Savings and Credit Groups% of total MBOs in community
• Women’s Groups % of total MBOs in community
Greatly influenced by project cycles and funding
What defines a MBO/Group that qualifies for measurement
How to measure group impact on social capital, i.e. quality
of social capital

11. Malawi
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%AgCoops
year
Agricultural cooperatives, share of total MBOs in communities
National
Rural
Urban

12. Malawi
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%AgCoops
year
Agricultural cooperatives,
share of total MBOs in
communities
National
Rural
Urban
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2010-11 (p) 2013 (p)
%FGs
year
Farmers Groups share of total
MBOs in the communities
National
Rural
Urban

13. 3. Group members:
• Community members participating in MBOs, share of total community
population (%)
• Community members participating in Ag Coops, FGs and SCGs, and
women’s Groups, share of total community members (each) (%)
• Female Community Members participating in Women’s Groups, share
of total community members (%)
• Females to Males Ratio in MBOs/groups (real number)
• Females to Males Ratio in ag coops, FGs and SCGs (each) (real
number)
Quality of participation, impact on livelihoods, income, productivity –
How does membership in a group impact other livelihoods indicators

14. What else?
• Size of groups/organizations
• Group assets and sustainability
• Economic activity and viability
• Impact on income and productivity
• Linkages, clusters and networks
How does membership in a group impact on productivity, income
and access to servcies?
Does membership in a group result in reduced costs and
expenditures, thus increased profit?
How to interpret fluctuation in group concentration from year to
year? Project rotation and life-cycle?