Understanding farmers' intention and behavior regarding water conservation in the Middle-East and North Africa: A case study in Iran

Yazdanpanah, M., Hayati, D., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., & Zamani, G.H. (2014). Understanding farmers' intention and behavior regarding water conservation in the Middle-East and North Africa: A case study in Iran. Journal of Environmental Management 135 63-72. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.016.

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Abstract

There is a high risk of serious water shortages in Middle-East and North African countries. To decrease this threat water conservation strategies are gaining overall importance and one main focus is now on farmer's behavior. Among other dimensions it is assumed that normative issues play an important role in predicting environmental oriented intentions and actual actions. To empirically test the possible interactions the Theory of Planned Behavior was used, revised and expanded for the specific case on water management issues and applied to Iranian farmers. The results could not validate the TPB framework which emphasizes the importance of perceived behavioral control for intention and actual behavior and findings are much more in line with the Theory of Reasoned Action. Normative inclinations as well as perception of risk are found to be important for intention as well as actual water conservation behavior. Additionally, the importance and linkages of the dimensions are found to be different between sub-groups of farmers, especially between traditional water management farmers and those who already using advanced water management strategies. This raises the question if one-fits-all behavioral models are adequate for practical studies where sub-groups may very much differ in their actions. Still, our study suggests that in the context of water conservation, normative inclination is a key dimension and it may be useful to consider the role of positive, self-rewarding feelings for farmers when setting up policy measures in the region.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Middle-East and North Africa region; Water conservation; Theory of planned behavior; Farmers; Iran
Research Programs:	Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Risk & Resilience (RISK)
Bibliographic Reference:	Journal of Environmental Management; 135:63-72 (15 March 2014) (Published online 8 February 2014)
Depositing User:	IIASA Import
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2016 08:50
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2021 17:39
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/11002

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