This paper explores the efficacy of a development model designed to enhance social capital where social capital is seen as a catalyst to increased economic opportunities. The study covers smallholder livestock producers in Malawi and the Philippines. The key question examined in this paper is whether communities that received this specific development intervention significantly increased their access to social capital over time and whether this social capital is positively correlated with net farm income and improved livelihoods. We draw data from two case studies: Heifer International’s Malawi Smallholder Dairy Development Project (MSDD1) and the Philippine Raising Income of Families through Sustainable Agri-Business Project (RICSA). The examination of these two cases increases our understanding of how implementation and contextual variables may influence changes in social capital and livelihoods. The study applies social network analysis (SNA) to understand the connection between asset-based/human capacity interventions and social capital. SNA provides a quantitative measure of networks and households’ position within those networks as indicators of social capital. Real net income which includes the value of home consumption is used as a proxy for ‘improved livelihoods.’ A quasi-experimental design is used to determine whether social capital and income variables change significantly over time and whether social capital is correlated with income. The results revealed significant differences across the two cases. In the Malawi case, the intervention significantly contributed to social capital formation. In the Philippine case study, the social capital did not demonstrate a significant difference. The dissimilarity between the two cases shows that it takes time to deepen bonds of trust and reciprocity and to extend networks as conduits of knowledge, information and economic opportunity.

本文探讨了旨在增强社会资本的发展模式的功效，其中社会资本被视为增加经济机会的催化剂。该研究涵盖了马拉维和菲律宾的小规模畜牧生产者。本文研究的关键问题是，随着时间的推移，接受这种特定发展干预的社区是否显着增加了获得社会资本的机会，以及这种社会资本是否与农场净收入和生计改善呈正相关。我们从两个案例研究中提取数据：国际小母牛的马拉维小农奶业发展项目(MSDD1) 和菲律宾通过可持续农业商业项目提高家庭收入（里萨）。对这两个案例的考察增加了我们对实施和背景变量如何影响社会资本和生计变化的理解。该研究应用社会网络分析 (SNA) 来了解基于资产/人力能力的干预措施与社会资本之间的联系。SNA 提供了网络和家庭在这些网络中的地位的定量衡量标准，作为社会资本的指标。包括家庭消费价值在内的实际净收入被用作“改善生计”的代表。准实验设计用于确定社会资本和收入变量是否随时间显着变化以及社会资本是否与收入相关。结果显示两个案例之间存在显着差异。在马拉维的案例中，这种干预极大地促进了社会资本的形成。在菲律宾的案例研究中，社会资本没有表现出显着差异。这两个案例之间的差异表明，加深信任和互惠关系以及扩展网络作为知识、信息和经济机会的渠道需要时间。