Microfinance, social capital and natural resource management systems: conceptual issues and empirical evidences

This paper attempts to trace the causes and consequences of natural resources' degradation as stated from various reviews. The paper also attempts to link poverty, environmental degradation and conceptual issues involved in recovery of natural resources through building social capital. This is a review of various papers on microfinance programmes undertaken in natural resource management projects. An attempt is made to understand how the building of social capital enhances the propensity to develop natural capital. It is argued that there is lack of evidence to show that social capital increases the chance of improving natural capital and discusses various issues associated with natural resource management. The paper also stresses the need to adopt an integrated approach to seek evidence of natural resource building efforts through improving social capital.