Can the World Bank Build Social Capital? The Experience of Social Funds in Malawi and Zambia

Abstract

Social funds have been one of the main manifestations of the World Bank's move toward promoting projects with a participatory orientation. Supporters of social funds argue that participation in social fund activities builds community social capital. Critics of the Bank's use of social capital argue that it ignores power structures but these critics have focused on the Bank's research rather than its operations. This paper examines ‘social capital’ in a project context: social funds in Malawi and Zambia. In contrast to the model of collective action suggested by proponents of social funds, it is shown that the nature of community participation is indeed shaped by existing power and social relations. Project identification and execution is led by a small number of people in the community, usually the head teacher in cooperation with the PTA and traditional authorities. The community is then mobilised using the traditional structures of village headmen. Most community members participate actively in making bricks, but passively in decision making. However, this process should be seen as an institutional adaptation to what social funds offer, not elite capture. Most community members are satisfied with the outcome, although the chosen project is not what they would have chosen themselves. Given these processes, social funds do little to build social capital but instead, appear to be users of existing social capital.

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on work carried out for the review of social funds by the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank (World Bank, 2002); see also Carvalho et al. (2002). Thanks are due to our collaborators in designing the data collection instruments – Soniya Carvalho, Susan Razzaz and Vijay Rao – and for their advice on analysis. The views expressed here are our own and may not be taken to represent those of IEG, any part of the World Bank or its member governments, or of our collaborators.

Notes

1. These studies are listed in the World Bank social capital library accessible from the social capital website.

2. Whilst there are other studies of social funds (notably Rawlings et al., 2004) these do not focus on community-level processes. The exception is the study of the Jamaican Social Investment Fund (JSIF) by Rao and Ibanez (2003), which uses data collected as part of the same study on which this paper is based.

3. CDD is sometimes distinguished from community based development (CBD), since in the former the community identifies the activities to be financed.

4. Earlier social funds accorded an intermediary role to NGOs or local government, which is not the case for community-based social funds. In 60 per cent of the social funds supported by the World Bank's portfolio: NGOs were eligible sub-project sponsors, local government in a similar share of cases, and central government agencies slightly fewer (World Bank, 2002).

5. The term ‘social fund agency’ or ‘social fund’ is used to refer to the social fund agency and its activities. ‘Project’ refers to World Bank's support to the social fund agency and its activities. ‘Sub-projects’ refer to the specific investments financed by the social fund agency at the local level.

6. Van Domelen (2003) identifies just two generations of social funds: the first focusing on providing sub-projects; and the second in which explicit attention was paid to capacity building and empowerment.

7. UDF's manifesto for the 1999 election pictured its logo alongside that of MASAF.

8. Staff Appriasa1 Report Malawi Social Action Fund Project, Report No. 15345-MAI, April 1996, para. 1.21

9. Another consequence of social funds has been the establishment of a number of small-scale contracting firms who derive their business largely from social fund-financed construction.

10. In Zambia, where cash is also required for the community contribution, villagers who work in town are called upon.

11. These questions were asked prior to any mention of the social fund or the sub-project itself.

12. This result is not inconsistent with the above analysis of priorities. The questions regarding priorities were asked before any mention was made of the social fund. Unlike the response to these questions, the reply to the question on whether the respondent would have chosen something else is coloured by their experience of how the social fund operates.

13. A similar process is described in Makuwira (2004) for a NGO project in Malawi.

14. These are percentages of those having heard of the social fund, as the questions were not asked to those who had not heard of it. In Malawi this makes no difference to the overall percentage given the high level of knowledge of MASAF. In Zambia, it means that 49 per cent of total respondents said they had contributed. However, this figure will be a substantial underestimate since the nature of participation is such that a community member could well contribute without being aware that the facility is supported by the social fund.

15. The focus on this paper is on the role of the prime mover and existing social structures in mobilising the community. However, the external agent (the social fund) is also important as it provides the resources which mobilises the sub-project. For a formal statement of the latter mechanism see White (2003).

16. Grootaert et al. (2004) provide a detailed social capital questionnaire. Our work pre-dated this publication but used similar questions.

17. People in the men's focus group in Lilong district were not participating because the Village Headman was among the group. He and other two participants were the ones who dominated the meeting.

18. There may be said to be some vested interest since the sub-projects also construct teacher housing. In rural areas such housing is often vital to recruiting and retaining teachers.

19. A savings and loan scheme has recently been added to the MASAF menu, though ZAMSIF has resisted this.

20. During fieldwork in Zambia, we encountered one chief who was very explicit about this benefit of social funds and was proactive in encouraging headmen under him to put together social fund proposals.