870 Investigating Social Capital Levels Among Small Holder Maize Farmers in the Kwahu North District, Ghana Enoch Kwame Tham-Agyekum Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Ghana, Ghana Fred Nimoh Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Abstract The process of community development has often been linked with social capital, in recent times. Using a household-level survey data, this study investigates social capital levels among small-holder maize farmers in the Kwahu North district of the Eastern region of Ghana. The results of the study show that there exists a low level of social contacts among farmers in the study area. However, there are moderate levels of information flow, access to resources and attendance to community activities among the sampled farmers. The level of social capital was found to be relatively high, as a majority of the respondents were at the moderate level and beyond. The study recommends that there is the need for behavioural change among farmers, particularly with their social contacts, as this could help further enhance their social capital and hence their livelihoods. Keywords: Social capital, small-holder maize farmers, information flow, Kwahu North, Ghana Introduction 1 Social capital has often been linked with development. This makes it very important to scholars in rural development activities. According to Hawe and Shiell (2000), social capital has found applications in already existing initiatives that strengthen rural networks, build capacity and empowerment of community members. Social capital is conceptualised as a new way of looking at social relationships as they have the potential to reform thinking Corresponding author’s: Name: Enoch Kwame Tham-Agyekum Email address: donsprakels@yahoo.com about society with either positive or negative outcomes (Mort et al., 2003). An element in the concept of social capital is the structure of the social relationships that expedite action. While economic capital is in the bank accounts of individuals and human capital is in their minds (Adler and Kwon, 2002), social capital occurs when a person relates with others (Bowles & Gintins, 2002). It will exist only when it is shared and embedded in the social structure (Narayan and Pritchett, 1999). It has also been found that these features of social organisation can facilitate co-ordinated actions, advance the efficiency of society and involve horizontal and vertical social structures that link local Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development journal homepage: http://aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5005