Tension Containment Capacity as a Simple Measure of Organisational Social Capital in Economic Farmer Organisations: results of a field test in Bolivia

Topic 14 - Stage 3 - Micro. This paper documents the field testing of a simple data-collection tool to assess farmer organisations involved in collective processing and marketing. It maps the relevance of common agency... [ view full abstract ]

Topic 14 - Stage 3 - Micro.

This paper documents the field testing of a simple data-collection tool to assess farmer organisations involved in collective processing and marketing. It maps the relevance of common agency dilemmas, areas in which the interests of group and individual diverge, and the extent to which the group has found internal rules to contain these inherent tensions. We develop a construct to measure an organisation’s tension containment capacity (TCC). We identify five core areas that proved most relevant for economic farmer organisations in Bolivia: quality-assurance systems, payment systems, rules that anticipate side-selling, delegation of commercial tasks, and the management of party-political aspirations.

Using panel data from two rounds of measurement in 2011 and 2013, we show that the construct is suited for cross-sectional analysis of collective marketing groups. The use of ∆TCC as a longitudinal measure of organisational strengthening proved to be more challenging, due to higher demands on measurement accuracy and changes in ennumerators and respondents.

The radiography instrument used to review the organisational capacities on ten agency dilemmas seems appropriate for use in other countries and settings where farmer groups are organised around collective marketing activities. We consider the measure of tension containment capacity (TCC) a promising ‘common indicator’ of organisational social capital of collective marketing groups for use in impact evaluation of development interventions. This would help to compare the effectiveness of various approaches and support interventions that explicitly aim to strengthen collective action of smallholders in markets.