Bonding, bridging and linking social capital combinations for food access: a gendered case study exploring temporal differences in southern Malawi
Bonding, bridging and linking social capital combinations for food access: a gendered case study exploring temporal differences in southern Malawi
In 2018–2020, 82% of Malawian's were classed as moderately or severely food insecure. For decades, Malawian's have used their social capital as a coping mechanism to access food in times of need. Yet social capital has started to decline in other sub-Saharan African countries, questioning the usefulness of social capital to alleviate hunger. Food security status and a person's stock of social capital are also dependent on gender. Yet there is limited research that considers gender when exploring how social capital is used to access food. The study aimed to understand the link between social capital and food security, how this varies between men and women, and if social capital use to access food has changed over time. To improve the understanding of how social capital is used to improve food security, qualitative data collection was undertaken in three districts in the Southern Region of Malawi. Rapid rural appraisal methods, including focus group discussions, seasonal calendars and ranking exercises, were used to meet the aims of the study. We found that social capital can be used to alleviate hunger during periods of food insecurity. However, a lack of resources, weather variability, key community group disintegration and a reduction in active NGOs has resulted in changes in social capital and it could not be used as frequently as in the past to access food. This highlighted the importance of considering bonding, bridging and linking social capital separately in research as they are interlinked. The study found men and women have different types of social capital, with women being most active in village savings and loans groups, which were the most important group to improve access to food. Meanwhile, men can utilise their social capital from outside of the village to access food, something women could not do due to their restricted mobility. The changes to social capital use for food access that were uncovered in this study, as well as gender difference, are noteworthy given the increase in food insecurity in Malawi, and globally.
food security, gender, Malawi, seasonal adjustment, social capital, Food security, Gender, Seasonal, Social capital
Craig, Ailish
c5517ed2-7bf7-4fcd-bf3a-a98832ed018b
Hutton, Craig
9102617b-caf7-4538-9414-c29e72f5fe2e
Musa, Frank B.
c2f74e55-f945-4915-b116-ac85e6948756
Sheffield, Justin
dd66575b-a4dc-4190-ad95-df2d6aaaaa6b
July 2023
Craig, Ailish
c5517ed2-7bf7-4fcd-bf3a-a98832ed018b
Hutton, Craig
9102617b-caf7-4538-9414-c29e72f5fe2e
Musa, Frank B.
c2f74e55-f945-4915-b116-ac85e6948756
Sheffield, Justin
dd66575b-a4dc-4190-ad95-df2d6aaaaa6b
Craig, Ailish, Hutton, Craig, Musa, Frank B. and Sheffield, Justin
(2023)
Bonding, bridging and linking social capital combinations for food access: a gendered case study exploring temporal differences in southern Malawi.
Journal of Rural Studies, 101, [103039].
(doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103039).
Abstract
In 2018–2020, 82% of Malawian's were classed as moderately or severely food insecure. For decades, Malawian's have used their social capital as a coping mechanism to access food in times of need. Yet social capital has started to decline in other sub-Saharan African countries, questioning the usefulness of social capital to alleviate hunger. Food security status and a person's stock of social capital are also dependent on gender. Yet there is limited research that considers gender when exploring how social capital is used to access food. The study aimed to understand the link between social capital and food security, how this varies between men and women, and if social capital use to access food has changed over time. To improve the understanding of how social capital is used to improve food security, qualitative data collection was undertaken in three districts in the Southern Region of Malawi. Rapid rural appraisal methods, including focus group discussions, seasonal calendars and ranking exercises, were used to meet the aims of the study. We found that social capital can be used to alleviate hunger during periods of food insecurity. However, a lack of resources, weather variability, key community group disintegration and a reduction in active NGOs has resulted in changes in social capital and it could not be used as frequently as in the past to access food. This highlighted the importance of considering bonding, bridging and linking social capital separately in research as they are interlinked. The study found men and women have different types of social capital, with women being most active in village savings and loans groups, which were the most important group to improve access to food. Meanwhile, men can utilise their social capital from outside of the village to access food, something women could not do due to their restricted mobility. The changes to social capital use for food access that were uncovered in this study, as well as gender difference, are noteworthy given the increase in food insecurity in Malawi, and globally.
Text
1-s2.0-S0743016723001055-main
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 21 May 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 June 2023
Published date: July 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Many thanks to the fieldwork research assistants; Lucius Chilipo, Chakhumbila Khaila and Tadala Minyaliwa and to Eunice Shame for providing guidance throughout the fieldwork process. Thank you to the Economic and Social Research Council through the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership for funding this work.
This work was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council through the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (grant number ES/P000673/1 ).
Keywords:
food security, gender, Malawi, seasonal adjustment, social capital, Food security, Gender, Seasonal, Social capital
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 478628
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/478628
ISSN: 0743-0167
PURE UUID: 52a37de2-0e7d-49d7-98a5-dc15755690ce
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 06 Jul 2023 16:31
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:33
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Frank B. Musa
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
