Social capital in farmers’ climate adaptation: bonding, bridging and linking ties

Abstract

Social capital plays a crucial role in rural communities' adaptation to climate change, with bonding, bridging, and linking ties serving distinct yet complementary functions. While their positive influence in responding to sudden-onset events—such as floods, hail, hurricanes—is increasingly acknowledged, their role in addressing slow-onset impacts, including droughts, shifting precipitation, and rising temperatures and sea levels, remains underexplored. Moreover, existing research has given limited attention to the full spectrum of social capital's core dimensions: trust, reciprocity, recurring interactions, and shared norms and values. Building on these understudied areas, this study investigates how different types of social capital support or hinder adaptation among diverse farming groups experiencing both sudden- and slow-onset climate impacts. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in three regions of Turkey (2021–2023), the analysis combines survey data from 111 farmers (statistically analysed), semi-structured interviews with 53 farmers, and 29 expert interviews (thematically analysed). The findings indicate that bonding social capital tends to provide limited support, primarily to disadvantaged farmers, and particularly in coping with sudden-onset events, while bridging and linking social capital tend to facilitate adaptation more effectively to climate change, particularly in addressing slow-onset events, and among relatively advantaged farmers. However, each form of social capital shows significant limitations, sometimes contributing to maladaptive outcomes. The study underscores the importance of climate policies and planned adaptation strategies that foster trust and strengthen engagement between farmers and agricultural institutions. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.