Poverty Reduction Intervention and Social Capital: A Study in Rural Oromia State, Ethiopia

Social capital is an undeniable relatively cheapest asset that contribute much for development and poverty reduction of developing nations. Studies revealed good social capital leads to better performance. Nevertheless, few studies either dealt about if the interventions programs positively or negatively interrelated with social capital. This paper discusses about significant relationship between NGOs rural poverty program implementation and level of social capital among community members. The study is a comparative mixed type research applying quantitative household survey and qualitative key informant interview. Both types of informant were chosen by multi-stage stratified random sampling from six villages in Oromia regional state in Ethiopia. The sample consists 202 control group and 378-participant group. The participant group members were selected from three broad NGO poverty reduction programs. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive and regression, while qualitative by thematic analysis. The result shows that the intervention programs effected social capital both positively and negatively. The household social capital size, mutual assistance, voluntary community activity participation, and social inclusion were positively impacted, but trust was negatively affected. Therefore, program implementers should be cautious not to deteriorate trust that is believed to be key for the success and sustainability of neighborhood based development programs.