Social capital, poverty alleviation and complexity in Africa. Evidence from rural areas

Abstract

PurposeThe aim is to discuss the role of social capital in alleviating poverty in the rural setting of Africa by viewing it as an individual and collective asset.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use primary data from a survey on rural households living in three different districts in rural Africa. The authors design a social complexity index giving evidence on the poverty alleviation effect of complex patterns of civic participation at district level.FindingsResults support the view that social capital may mitigate poverty only if a rural household simultaneously participates in a plurality of social communities. Such mitigation is reinforced if she also lives in a socially complex district, whereas on the contrary the social complexity of a district, per se, is not enough to alleviate poverty.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to advance the knowledge of African rural areas and to identify potential developments of poverty policies in Africa based on diversified social capital as a valuable ingredient for poverty alleviation policies. This paper also contributes to the debate on social capital by showing that diversified social capital has a prevailing individual nature rather than a collective one.