Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of banana farm workers regarding water management and associated factors

ABSTRACT

Banana production is an agricultural activity that requires intensive use of water. Its increasing demand brings about not only risks of water scarcity in banana-producing farms but also management challenges for the farm workers. Thus, understanding the association of water management practices with the banana workers’ knowledge, attitude, and practices is crucial. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a scale to assess the relationship among the knowledge, attitudes, and practices – KAP – of banana farm workers regarding water management and associated factors. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on three banana farms in the Urabá region, Colombia. The scale showed excellent psychometric properties in the dimensions of knowledge and attitude. Scores on the scale indicated that the workers have a satisfactory level of knowledge and attitude and an excellent level of practice. However, no relationship was noted between practices, and knowledge and attitude. The results suggest that workers’ practices do not depend on their knowledge and attitude as they are workers employed by one company. Thus, the practices of farm workers can be easily controlled as they have to do what they are told to do by their boss.

KEYWORDS:

• KAP model
• sociodemographics
• water management
• banana production
• sustainability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Garruchero: worker who moves bunches of bananas whereby a cableway-pulley system. Guantelete: worker who places a plastic bag over the bunch to protect the fruits. Hércules: worker in charge of breaking the clod and bringing the soil. Palero: worker that clears and drains the channels in the plantation with a shovel.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia [Grant Number Proyectos en Alianza Inv2391, Inv2399]; Universidad de Antioquia [grant number Dir. de Regionalización y Escuela de Microbiologí­a].

Notes on contributors

Walter Alfredo Salas-Zapata

Walter Alfredo Salas-Zapata holds a PhD and is a researcher.

Ivis Tatiana Ramos-Hernández

Ivis Tatiana Ramos-Hernández holds a B.Sc and is a researcher.

Diana M. Gómez

Diana M. Gómez holds a MSc and is researcher.

Jesús Alonso Jaramillo-Arango

Jesús Alonso Jaramillo-Arango holds a MSc and is researcher.

Victor Hugo Aristizabal-Tique

Victor Hugo Aristizabal-Tique holds a PhD and is a researcher.

Francisco Javier Vélez-Hoyos

Francisco Javier Vélez-Hoyos holds a PhD and is a researcher.