We investigate the use of social capital in
the form of social ties in the face of commercialization,
urbanization and climate change. While discussions
of social capital often focus on whether people
possess certain social ties or not our study shows that it
is also necessary to consider under what circumstances
people can make use of their ties. The use of different
kinds of ties varies with context and is not as clear cut
as suggested in the literature. For example families
closer to the city are in a better position to take
advantage of new opportunities. Using a combination
of ties people have engaged in high-input agriculture,
business and paid employment. Diversification of
livelihoods has made many people less sensitive to
climate change, but this does not translate into
decreased vulnerability for the community. Intensive
agriculture and lower community cohesion seems
unsustainable in the long run. Thus, decreased
vulnerability at the household level may come at the
price of increased vulnerability at higher levels and
negative consequences for the wider social–ecological
system. Evaluating vulnerability and the role of social
ties depends on the unit and sector of analysis, and the
temporal and spatial scale.