Influence of Social Capital on the Poverty Reduction of Rangeland Communities in the Bamyan Province, Afghanistan

Abstract

Background and objective: This study investigates the contribution of social capital on the poverty alleviation of rangeland agropastoral communities who are based on agriculture and the rearing of livestock in the Bamyan province of Afghanistan. Methods: Data was collected through a field survey from the randomly selected 186 households in three rangeland villages in the Bamyan Province, Afghanistan. The relationship between social capital and household poverty was analyzed using a binary logistic regression and correlation analysis. Results: Poor households (.728) were found to have lower social capital than non-poor households (.782). People who live in the Shah Foladi protected area (.687) have lower social capital than those of the Band-E-Amir national park area (0.800). Respondents with a government tenure (.801) were more likely to have higher social capital than those with a public tenure (.608). Conclusion: In this study, social capital has a significant impact on alleviating the poverty of rangeland households in Afghanistan. To address the poverty issue of forest dependents, the local level strategy of community development programs should target rangeland communities to build up their social capital for supporting forest tenures and benefit sharing among marginalized people.