Social Capital and Welfare among Farming Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the effects of social capital on household welfare in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The data for the study was collected from 186 households in three local government areas (LGAs) of the state using random sampling techniques. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, social capital indices and regression technique. Average age of the household heads stood at 54.4 years with 7 years of formal education. Household size was 7 members with monthly per capital income of N38,801.56. About 18% of per capita expenditure was spent on food. Households attended two out of every three meetings and had high level of active participation in decision making of 77%. The index of heterogeneity at 23.7  indicated low level of diversity of the associations. Monthly cash contribution was highest for members in cooperative associations followed by religious association. A one unit increase in the level of social capital would increase household per capita expenditure by 0.31%. Disaggregation of social capital into its components showed that its effect on welfare was traceable to cash contribution and decision making of households in associations. Social capital was truly exogenous to household’s welfare with no reverse causality. The study concluded that social capital positively affected household welfare.

Keywords: Social Capital, Welfare, Heterogeneity Index, Exogeneity, Ekiti State