Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices of Sustainable Environment Activities in The Eastern Region of Ghana

ABSTRACT

The sustainable environment has become an important issue in global development as a result of recurrent instability in the interaction among environmental, economic and social systems. Different policy directives and interventions have therefore been championed for promoting a balance in these systems. Key among them is education for a sustainable environment, identified to contribute knowledge, skills and attitudes required to bring about a change. In spite of these, a sustainable farming environment continues to pose a challenge in most Ghanaian communities; of which the Eastern Region (ER) is no exception. It is as a result of this that the study sought to address the research question: What are farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of sustainable environment activities (SEA) in the Eastern Region (ER) of Ghana? The study addressed four objectives; namely, to find out the levels of farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of SEA with regards to sex, education, age and type of farming. The study also sought to identify the relationships among farmers’ levels of KAP of SEA and finally the farmers’ views on measures to enhance their KAP of SEA. The explanatory sequential mixed method was adopted using a population of all actively engaged farmers from the ages of eighteen (18) to sixty (60) years in the ER. A sample of 400 farmers from an estimated population of 724,001 was selected using the multistage sampling techniques for the quantitative study while 30 other farmers from the population was purposively selected for the qualitative study. Structured interview schedule and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data for the study. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively and inferentially using IBM SPSS version 24 and thematic analysis was also done for the qualitative data. Some major findings were that: Farmers had high levels of knowledge and practices of SEA and more favourable attitudes towards SEA. In spite of this, no significant relationships were found between farmers’ knowledge and attitudes towards SEA in relation to sex: Female farmers however practiced more SEA than males. Farmers with formal education had higher levels of knowledge and attitudes towards SEA while they exhibited varying levels of practices of SEA. Farmers ages were not related significantly to their KAP of SEA. Their levels of attitudes were however related to their knowledge and practices of SEA and their knowledge of SEA also contributed to their levels of practices of SEA. Finally, the provision of environmental education and stringent punishment of offenders with regular communal activities could enhance farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of SEA in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study recommended that stakeholders should formulate and implement environmental education policies for the non-formal education sector to promote SEA. Again, adult education institutions should intensify their environmental education curriculum. Agricultural extension officers, community development agents and nonFormal Education Organizations should provide regular environmental education to grassroots farmers whose activities directly impinge on the physical environment. The study therefore concluded that farmers’ had high knowledge and practices of SEA on the scales used and also exhibited more favourable attitudes towards SEA. In spite of this, farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of SEA were at varying levels in relation to their sex, educational backgrounds and age.