Social capital and structural disadvantages: A case of Community-Driven Development program in Afghanistan

Abstract

This paper analyzes and uses the National Solidarity Program (NSP) Afghanistan as a case study to question the idea of social capital building for poverty reduction. Specifically, it explores how development policy has been decoupled from its intended objectives as it hit the existing friction in the ground. The data draws from poor household experience in three different provinces of Afghanistan to assess how poor household is integrated into NSP and how existing social structure and relational dynamics shape the NSP outcomes. The finding reveals that household is experiencing a cluster of interlink disadvantages that make it impossible for them to draw on social capital to reduce their poverty. However, NSP failed to eliminate the asymmetrical relations which created poverty in rural society; instead, it boosted Neopatrimonialism culture.