Social network characteristics and resource access among formerly displaced households in Lira, Uganda

Abstract

In rural African communities, the support of extended family, friends, and neighbours is essential in borrowing or leveraging land, labour, food, and money, especially at times of social and financial turmoil. Little is known, though, about the nature of the networks and the conditions under which they may generate greater support in post-conflict communities. This study, conducted in the Lira district of northern Uganda, examined the composition, proximity, and size of the networks that households utilise to gain access to resources during and after resettlement. Network structures with more kin and co-resident ties were found to offer greater resource access to households in post-conflict settings. Furthermore, there was a lack of meaningful linkages outside of a person's own village, especially with regard to households whose head has no or a low level of education. These findings enhance understanding of the specific role of relationships in social support for resource access among households in post-conflict communities.

Harnessing Social Capital for Resilience to Livelihood Shocks: Ethnographic Evidence of Indigenous Mutual Support Practices among Rural Households in Eastern Ethiopia

“…Similarly location provides important information in order to be able to determine the type of social capital households possess (such as bonding, bridging, and linking social capital). It also provides information on whether households differ in quantitative and qualitative terms regarding support originating within and outside the villages [60].…”

Influence of social networks and social support on credit utilization in the Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Soroti District, Uganda

“…This point is consistent with the finding of Bastani (2007) which discovered that education allows people to have relations with people from different contexts and respondents with higher levels of education have larger networks. Obaa and Mazur (2016) also found that there were no meaningful linkages with regard to household heads with no or low level of education.…”

“…Social networks are sets of actors linked by social relations or ties (Knoke and Yang, 2008;Kebede and Butterfield, 2009) from which resources may be derived (Obaa and Mazur, 2016). Chai et al (2016) defined social networks as particularistic relationships formed and maintained by interactive and stable kinship, friends, relatives, neighbors or territorial ties.…”

“…Chai et al (2016) defined social networks as particularistic relationships formed and maintained by interactive and stable kinship, friends, relatives, neighbors or territorial ties. Networks are important sources of information and other resources (Obaa and Mazur, 2016). In addition, the existence of social relations in the form of indigenous networks and norms of association are seen as substitutes for the physical collateral like land ownership which the poor lack, in the selection of loan beneficiaries, loan disbursal and recovery (Mugabi, 2010).…”

“…Many studies on social networks have assessed social capital and access to credit (Okten and Osili, 2004), social capital on consumer default (Clark et al, 2014) as well as the effect of social capital on poverty alleviation (Idris and Agbim, 2015). In Uganda, previous studies by Obaa and Mazur (2016), Okten and Osili (2004) have focused more on social networks and access to credit. However, there is limited empirical evidence on influence of social networks on credit use decisions.…”