Influence of personal and collective social capital on flood preparedness and community resilience: Evidence from Old Fadama, Ghana

Abstract

Social capital constitutes an important resource in vulnerable cities of the developing world where formal disaster management capacities are weak, responses are limited, and socio-economic deprivations run deep along spatial dimensions. Yet, little is known about how the different types of social capital contribute to flood preparedness and better community resilience, particularly in informal settlement settings. Drawing on a survey of 391 respondents in Old Fadama, an informal settlement in Ghana, and using structural equation modelling, we found that personal and collective social capitals are significant predictors of flood preparedness and community resilience. However, collective social capital has a stronger predictive ability than personal social capital. Also, flood preparedness mediated the relationship between personal and collective social capital and community resilience. This makes it imperative for disaster managers and policymakers to recognise and work within the existing individual and collective networks, which has the potential to activate “soft” capital accumulation necessary to transition communities from vulnerability to resilience.