Socio –Economic Determinants of the Level of Social Capital among Small-Scale Farming Households in Kogi State, Nigeria

Socio-economic factors influencing the level of social capital among small-scale farming households in Kogi State were investigated. A total of 352 farming households were randomly selected across the agricultural zones in the state. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The study revealed that farming households belong to three levels of social capital comprising bonding (25%), bridging (12%) and linking (63%). The probability of farming household having bonding social capital relative to bridging social capital increases with sex of the head of household and position held in group, but reduces with age of household head (p< 0.05). In the same vein, the tendency of having linking social capital among farming households relative to bridging increases with farm size and amount of credit received by the household as well as age, sex, and level of education of the household head (p< 0.05). The study concluded that social capital level is influenced by the socioeconomic characteristics of the farming households. It is therefore recommended that agricultural groups need to be strengthened and supported by government and the community through services in the area of input supply, provision of credit facilities and farm land as well as education of the household members.

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