CORRELATION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AND POVERTY FARMERS IN ACEH

Abstract

Purpose of the study: This study tried to examine the correlation between social capital and the poverty level of farmers in Aceh. It was linked to the uneven agricultural development of some rural areas in Aceh had caused the poverty rates in villages are higher than in the urban areas. Hence the social capital is important as other capitals in development and become the energies for the development and decreases the rate of poverty. Methodology: This research used a quantitative method by distributing the questionnaire to 300 respondents in Aceh Tamiang, Pidie Jaya and Aceh Tengah, Indonesia. The data analyzed by using the Spearman correlation with the assistance of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences to determining the relationship between two variables; social capital and poverty in farmers. Main Findings: This study found that there is a positive and significant correlation between social capital and the level of poverty. Famers who have a higher stock of social capital are found to be lower in the poverty rate. Applications of this study: The finding of this study is useful for the government of the Aceh government to explore and strengthen farmers' social capital to empowering their economies. It would be relevant to decreasing the poverty rate according to farmers in Aceh. Novelty/Originality of this study: The case of poverty in Aceh was widely explained by the numbers of the researcher. But there is no recent publication that has explained the relationship between poverty and social capital in Aceh. Therefore a strong level of social capital will be able to significantly reduce poverty in Aceh.