Social Capital
Social capital builds resilience by enabling individuals and communities to support each other in times of need.

In certain contexts, social capital allows people to lean on each other during times of need. This is often achieved through both formal and informal support networks. Bonding social capital entails the horizontal links between family members, close friends, and neighbors. Bridging social capital connects communities and groups. And linking social capital connects social networks with some form of authority. Social capital helps protect against, mitigate, and manage shocks or stresses.
Approach
Social capital contributes to women’s empowerment, promotes behavior change, and transforms social norms — all of which strengthens resilience capacities. Self-help groups or socioeconomic networks supporting marketing facilitation can strengthen bonding and bridging social capital. Social capital as a source of resilience is highly context specific. Different communities have varying existing and potential forms of social capital. Social capital is an important factor in communities’ ability to mitigate and recover from shocks. However, some groups, such as religious or ethnic minorities, may be excluded from community networks.
Evidence
A multi-country study in Uganda, Nepal, and the Philippines suggests bonding capital contributes to resilience. Evidence on the role of bridging social capital in making households more resilient is weaker. The results across groups, context, and type of disaster or shock are highly variable. Evidence on linking social capital and resilience is mixed.
Evaluations of USAID resilience projects in East and West Africa demonstrate social capital’s role in building resilience. Bonding and bridging social capital were significantly associated with households’ ability to maintain and increase food security during droughts. Linking capital was positively associated with households’ ability to maintain food security during shocks. However, this was only true in certain countries.
Featured Resources
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In the emerging literature on resilience in relation to food security, a growing number of studies stress the need to expand our analysis beyond...
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Powerpoint slide for Resilience Evidence Forum
More Resources
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In the emerging literature on resilience in relation to food security, a growing number of studies stress the need to expand our analysis beyond conventional socio-economic factors such as assets or social capital, and to consider less tangible elements such as risk perception, self-efficacy or...
Social Capital -
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This review builds on learnings from the Asia Resilience Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2017.
Value for MoneySocial Capital -
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This article examines the community response to Cyclone Haruna in Madagascar, and how this response was strengthened by a community-level population, health, and environment program in the affected regions.
Climate Change AdaptationHealthEvidence and AnalysisSocial CapitalEcosystems and Natural Resource ManagementMadagascar -
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The evidence, and the resulting discussion, presented during the 2017 Resilience Evidence Forum — hosted in Washington D.C. by the USAID Center for Resilience — are presented in the Resilience Evidence Forum Report.
Conflict and FragilityUrban ContextCollaboration and Collective ImpactValue for MoneySustainable Poverty EscapesDiversify Livelihood RisksSocial ProtectionGraduationSocial CapitalFinancial InclusionHuman CapitalAspirationsGender EquitySocial InclusionEcosystems and Natural Resource Management -
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This brief summarizes a USAID white paper on the linkages between education and resilience.
Conflict and FragilityEducationSystemsSocial CapitalHuman Capital -
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This white paper explores the interaction between education and resilience and presents several recommendations on policy and programming.
Conflict and FragilityEducationSystemsSocial CapitalHuman CapitalGender Equity -
Training
This course explores measurement approaches for shocks, stresses, and capacities so USAID staff and implementing partners can analyze their impact on well-being.
Social CapitalHuman Capital -
Training
Improve the results of your development work by building your skills in collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA)—USAID's approach to organizational learning and adaptive management in the Program Cycle. Particularly useful for those new to CLA, this introductory, online course will introduce...
Collaboration and Collective ImpactSocial CapitalAspirationsEcosystems and Natural Resource Management -
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This synthesis paper reviews 20 years of research and focuses on the increasing socioeconomic differentiation in selected pastoralist areas, and the implications in terms of pathways to resilience.
HealthEducationDiversify Livelihood RisksSocial CapitalGender EquitySouth SudanKenyaEthiopiaUgandaSomalia -