Relationship between Social Capital and Livelihood Enhancing Capitals among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda

Social capital is an important characteristic of a community and is one of the components of the asset pentagon of the sustainable livelihood framework. The study aimed at assessing the levels and dimensions of social capital and how social capital influences other livelihood capitals. A Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 208 households was conducted in Masindi and Hoima Districts in Uganda to assess the current livelihood conditions and strategies for improving rural livelihoods. An Index of social capital was generated using density of group membership and three levels of social capital where generated i.e. high, medium and low. Two dimensions of social capital (bonding and bridging) were considered. Results showed that households with high and medium social capital had enhanced skills to solve problems, do research and bargain with middle men. Social capital empowered more women to participate in decision making, fostered asset base creation and use of natural resource management technologies. There was a significant difference between level of social capital and participation in collective farming. Households with high social capital rated highly the community level of trust, reciprocity, and women’s confidence. However, there was no significant effect of social capital on household income. In conclusion, there was a positive relationship between level and dimension of social capital and access to livelihood assets implying that strengthening social capital is a powerful way to improve communities and requires consistent and effective approaches to build and reinforce the social and human capital.Relationship, Social Capital, Livelihood Capitals, Smallholder Farmers, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Conceptualizing University Autonomy and Academic Freedom: Reflections on state of Autonomy and Academic Freedom in Public Universities in Kenya

There has been mixed view on the understanding and implication of the terms university autonomy and academic freedom. Different people have used the terms to imply different things, with academia looking at it as absolute freedom of universities to run their affairs. On the other hand, political leaders have taken these terms as delegated and thus needs to be exercised to enhance society’s social economic value. There is a consensus that university autonomy and academic freedom is a fundamental anchor of universities world over. Differences in conceptualization of these terms have resulted in friction between the political leaders and scholars. This paper therefore aimed at crystalizing the common bases of use and application of the terms with a view of creating a common understanding across the divide in order to reduce the tension. The paper also gives reflections on how the university autonomy and academic freedom has been perceived and applied in Kenya public universities. The debate on university autonomy and academic freedom seem to have evolved overtime and appears to have settled on a common conceptualization world over. The paper observes that, the terms university autonomy and academic freedom implies allowing universities adequate latitude to run their affairs in a way that it optimizes stakeholders’ value

Gender, livestock and livelihood indicators

This guide is a reference point for some of the important indicators that ILRI can use to monitor the changing role of livestock in livelihoods in different production systems and the impact of livestock-related interventions. While this list of indicators is not comprehensive in covering all the areas in which ILRI works, it provides a starting point for the common objectives which most of our projects, be they in markets, biotechnology or the environment, hope to achieve. Some of these indicators are already commonly used in different surveys but their application has not always been consistent or comparable. With time, we expect to develop further common indicators around other areas of research in ILRI. This document should therefore be considered as a living document to which we will add core indicators around the thematic areas covered by ILRI’s research including such areas as partnerships, capacity building and the key thematic areas of markets, biotechnology and environment. This document should be used to guide your data collection within projects. These may include baseline data, evaluation (both internal and external), impact assessments, project appraisals and any other data collection within the projects and programmes across the institute, including surveys conducted by students where possible. Currently, the indicators are designed for data collection at household level and for integration into household surveys. Project teams should ask for assistance in adapting these indicators for use in other types of surveys such as community surveys, focus group discussions, market agent surveys and key informant interviews. Livestock play multiple roles in livelihoods. In deriving these indicators, we have used both the sustainable livelihoods framework, placing livestock within an assets and capital framework, and as a pathway out of poverty. The latter recognizes that for livestock to translate into poverty reduction the necessary conditions i.e. technologies and services to generate productive, sustainable and profitable markets are a pre-requisite. Section 2 of this document identifies 6 categories of indicators and gives a rationale for each of the indicators and how to measure them covering both the tools for data collection on the indicator and its calculation. Section 3 provides the initial basic survey data to capture in ILRI surveys, Section 4 focuses on study meta-data to document and Section 5 on household sampling

Can market-based approaches to technology development and dissemination benefit women smallholder farmers? A qualitative assessment of gender dynamics in the ownership, purchase, and use of irrigation pumps in Kenya and Tanzania

Rural household economies dependent on rainfed agriculture are increasingly turning to irrigation technology solutions to reduce the effects of weather variability and guard against inconsistent and low crop output. Organizations are increasingly using market-based approaches to disseminate technologies to smallholder farmers, and, although women are among their targeted group, little is known of the extent to which these approaches are reaching and benefiting women. There is also little evidence on the implications of women’s use and control of irrigation technologies for outcomes, including crop choice and income management. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study undertaken in Tanzania and Kenya to examine women’s access to and ownership of KickStart pumps and the implications for their ability to make major decisions on crop choices and use of income from irrigated crops. Results from sales-monitoring data show that women purchase less than 10 percent of the pumps and men continue to make most of the major decisions on crop choices and income use. These findings vary by type of crop, with men making major decisions on high- income crops such as tomatoes and women having relatively more autonomy on crops such as leafy vegetables. The study concludes that market-based approaches on their own cannot guarantee access to and ownership of technologies, and businesses need to take specific measures toward the goal of reaching and benefiting women

Gender equity and social capital in smallholder farmer groups in central Mozambique

This case study from Bu´zi district, Mozambique investigated whether gender equality, in terms of male and female participation in groups, leads to gender equity in sharing of benefits from the social capital created through the group. Exploring the complex connection between gender, groups, and social capital, we found that gender equity is not necessarily achieved by guaranteeing men and women equal rights through established by-laws, or dealing with groups as a collective entity. While there were no significant differences in the investment patterns of men and women in terms of participation in group activities and contribution of communal work, access to leadership positions and benefits from social capital were unequally distributed. Compared with men, women further found it difficult to transform social relations into improved access to information, access to markets, or help in case of need

Does a voucher program improve reproductive health service delivery and access in Kenya?

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background - Current assessments on Output-Based Aid (OBA) programs have paid limited attention to the experiences and perceptions of the healthcare providers and facility managers. This study examines the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of healthcare providers and facility managers in the Kenya reproductive health output-based approach voucher program. Methods - A total of 69 in-depth interviews with healthcare providers and facility managers in 30 voucher accredited facilities were conducted. The study hypothesized that a voucher program would be associated with improvements in reproductive health service provision. Data were transcribed and analysed by adopting a thematic framework analysis approach. A combination of inductive and deductive analysis was conducted based on previous research and project documents. Results - Facility managers and providers viewed the RH-OBA program as a feasible system for increasing service utilization and improving quality of care. Perceived benefits of the program included stimulation of competition between facilities and capital investment in most facilities. Awareness of family planning (FP) and gender-based violence (GBV) recovery services voucher, however, remained lower than the maternal health voucher service. Relations between the voucher management agency and accredited facilities as well as existing health systems challenges affect program functions. Conclusions - Public and private sector healthcare providers and facility managers perceive value in the voucher program as a healthcare financing model. They recognize that it has the potential to significantly increase demand for reproductive health services, improve quality of care and reduce inequities in the use of reproductive health services. To improve program functioning going forward, there is need to ensure the benefit package and criteria for beneficiary identification are well understood and that the public facilities are permitted greater autonomy to utilize revenue generated from the voucher program.This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the Population Council as part of a multi country study evaluation of voucher-andaccreditation interventions. Grant number 51761

Gender, Assets, and Agricultural Development Programs: A Conceptual Framework

Being able to access, control, and own productive assets such as land, labor, finance, and social capital enables people to create stable and productive lives. Yet relatively little is known about how agricultural development programs can most effectively deliver these outcomes of well-being, empowerment, and higher income in a way that acknowledges differential access to and control over assets by men and women. After reviewing the literature on gender and assets, this paper offers a conceptual framework for understanding the gendered pathways through which asset accumulation occurs, including attention to not only men's and women's assets but also those they share in joint control and ownership. Unlike previous frameworks, this model depicts the gendered dimensions of each component of the pathway in recognition of the evidence that men and women not only control, own, or dispose of assets in different ways, but also access, control, and own different kinds of assets. The framework generates gender-specific hypotheses that can be tested empirically: i) Different types of assets enable different livelihoods, with a greater stock and diversity of assets being associated with more diverse livelihoods and better well-being outcomes; ii) Men and women use different types of assets to cope with different types of shocks; iii) Interventions that increase men's and women's stock of a particular asset improve the bargaining power of the individual(s) who control that asset; and iv) Interventions and policies that reduce the gender gap in assets are better able to achieve development outcomes related to food security, health, and nutrition and other aspects of well-being related to agency and empowerment. The implications of these gender differences for designing agricultural development interventions to increase asset growth and returns to assets as well as for value chain development are discussed. Based on this analysis, additional gaps in knowledge and possible investigations to address them are identified