Factors Affecting Farmers’ Sustainable Environmental Behaviour in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt.

Abstract

Fostering sustainable environmental behaviour is a multifaceted endeavor that hinges on understanding and leveraging various psychological, social, and socio-economic factors. Personal values and beliefs serve as the bedrock for shaping environmentally conscious mindsets, highlighting the necessity of cultivating an environmental ethos from a young age. Social norms and peer influences further bolster this by creating a culture of sustainability that encourages collective action. Economic incentives and barriers play a significant role, where targeted financial strategies can either promote or hinder green practices. Additionally, access to education and information empowers individuals and communities to make informed decisions, facilitating a shift towards sustainable living. Also, Egypt's agricultural sector faces such significant challenges, understanding these challenges and factors that influence farmers' sustainable environmental behaviour is crucial for developing effective policies and strategies to promote sustainable agriculture in Egypt. To addressing these diverse factors, drive a unified movement towards a more sustainable future, inspiring individuals and communities to actively participate in preserving our planet this study tried to give an organized, integrated, and up-to-date image for Farmer’s sustainable behaviour in the study area through presenting an accurate understanding of factors influencing Farmer’s sustainable behaviour, and Identify the most important obstacles influencing farmer’s adoption of sustainable farming behaviour. The study was conducted in the Beheira govrneroate which considered one of the largest rural agricultural governorates in Egypt and about 75% of population lived in rural areas. Abou elmatameer district has chosen randomly, two villages called (koum alqadah, Alseddik Algadida) are chosen to the study. The total number of sample size was 315 households. Aspesific questionnaire has been prepared for the study and data collected by personal meeting with households. Factor analysis was made to achieve the study objectives, and a model has developed. The study resulted that four factors were extracted when the rotation converged in their iterations. The factors were (Farmer’s good environmental behaviour, Farmer’s practices to improve farming conditions, Farmer’s implementation for innovative practices, Farmer’s adaptation to climate changes).  The analysis extracted four factors, each with Eigen values above one which explains 61.52% of the total variance while the original literature explains 68.23%.  This indicates that there could be more factors influencing Farmer’s sustainable environmental behaviour when more items are generated.  KMO was 0.91 and MSA was 0.6 for all items which is indicating a good model.

Keywords

Main Subjects