Measuring the social capital on flood resilience: Analysis of community actions in Narayani river basin, Nepal

Abstract

Social capital is the interaction and inter, or intra relationship among family, community, and external groups. There are three types of social capital: bonding, bridging, and linking to enhance flood resilience and make the communities better prepared. Flood resilience is the coping capacity of the community to prepare, respond, and recover from a flood shock, or stressor. A study is done to understand the role of social capital on flood resilience in the two communities i.e. Kudiya and Paklihawa of Susta municipality of Nawalparasi-West district of Nepal Paschim. Accordingly, household survey, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), and Key Informants Interview (KII) were carried out to collect the qualitative and quantitative data and information. The analysis of the data and information shows that among the three social capitals, bonding and bridging social capitals are quite strong in the communities, but linking social capital is weaker. 94% of the 402 respondents reported to have engagement with other community members, or groups whereas 91% respondents reported that they have stronger community to community coordination, and 67% respondents opined that they do not have access to external resources. The linking social capital needs to be strengthened to enhance flood response capacity of the two communities. It means that local government should work closely with local communities as per their needs and requirement and leverage the funds to the communities.

Community actions are part of the social capitals in the rural context that play vital roles in reducing flood risk management. Social capital refers to the complexity and strength of the relationships between the peoples within and beyond their communities. In the community disaster resilience context, social capital illustrates community connectedness or social cooperation which, provides informal safety during disasters and also helps the people for accessing the resources. Bridging, bonding, and linking among the people reduces barriers to collective action and helps those who are most affected and need help or supports. However, at the time getting relief and funding supports; poor and marginalized groups, women, and Dalits have challenges in accessing the resources and supports as compared to the people with a political link or higher social status. In the rural context, support among the communities is must needed during the flood since the support from the local government does not arrive on time. However local government i.e., municipality is also part of community actions. Local government has a crucial role in flood response than province and federal government because they know the local context well and have greater linkages and connectedness with community people. As per the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act 2074 (2017), local government (rural/municipalities) has greater role to implement DRRM plans locally.