Beyond theory: measuring social capital dimensions among teff-producing farmers in Ethiopia

Abstract

Over the last three decades, social capital has gained increasing attention in the development literature. However, despite its popularity, problems related to its definition, conceptualisation, and measurement have so far been limited. This study aims to measure teff-producing farmers’ social capital in the West Shoa Zone of Oromia, Ethiopia. The study developed composite indicators for assessing the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital using data collected from a survey of 357 teff producers. Data sets of indicators of social capital dimensions were subjected to principal component analyses (PCAs). The suitability of performing PCAs was supported by Bartlett's test of sphericity and the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sample adequacy. Following the principal component extraction, intermediate composite indicators for the social capital dimensions were calculated. Ultimately, linear weighted aggregations of the intermediate composite indicators were used to calculate the composite indicators. A composite indicator is constructed to analyse each dimension of the social capital that farmers have built. Cronbach's alpha was used to verify the composite indicators’ internal consistency. The approach produced robust, construct-valid, single, synthetic measurements for the social capital dimensions, though it leaves many contextual details open that require further improvement. This measurement established an operational measure of the dimensions of social capital for individual teff-producing farmers in the study area. That is, the study offered useful information that can be used for measuring the structural, relational, and cognitive social capital at the farmers’ level.