Scaling Up SCI: Social Capital-Centered Integrated Strategy for Enhancing Production with Equity and Climate Resilience

Abstract

The major barriers associated with the scaling up of SCI, especially in the small farm sector, are interwoven. These include lack of proper coordination of activities of many farmers operating on small holdings, inadequate economic capacity & poor input-output services. Therefore, up-scaling efforts should not focus only on a single barrier or just on knowledge building and dissemination. Moreover, environmental degradation such as erosion and pollution are caused by the cumulative effects of non-point sources or the individual decisions by many small farmers. These cannot be effectively dealt with through point source control mechanisms. For example, unless these users are informed, motivated, and organized to collectively adopt conservation-based production, environmentally inappropriate decisions will continue to be made. Therefore, investing in Social Capital is beneficial for managing Natural Capital. FO-managed Collective Action, CA would capture economies of scale, initiate a commercialization process, and develop mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector promoting small farmers to actively engage in market economy while maintaining equity. Hence, the paper explores the scope for enhancing resource use efficiency and overall production to ensure equitable food security and climate resilience through the combined effects of SCI and CA by farmers. Organized CA and an integrated approach can play a key role in widening SCI adoption through coordination and minimizing conflicts. In this context, the paper proposed an integrated strategy centered around social capital for enhancing production with equity and climate resilience.