Smallholder Farmers' behaviour towards Safe use of Pesticides along the White Volta Basin in the Upper East Region of Ghana

The study examine the intention and behaviour of smallholder farmers towards safe pesticides use along the banks of the White Volta Basin in the Upper East region of Ghana using the Theory of Planned Behaviour by Ajzen (1991). Descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to sample 300 farmers from a population 1400 farmers from 12 communities in three districts (Bawku Municipal, Bawku West District and Binduri District) in the Upper East region. A questionnaire was developed with the TPB constructs as key variables as well as questions on the main sources of pesticides information used by the farmers, pesticides disposal methods adopted and the use PPE. Data was analyzed IBM SPSS and SmartPLS to compute the results of the study. The results show that farmers' intention and behaviour towards safe pesticides use is predicted by the TPB construct with coefficients of 29 and 38% respectively.本研究基于阿杰岑（Ajzen）1991年提出的计划行为理论（Theory of Planned Behaviour, TPB），针对加纳上东部地区怀特沃尔特河沿岸流域的小农，探讨其安全农药使用的意愿与行为。研究采用描述性横断面调查法，从该地区3个行政区（鲍库市辖区、鲍库西区、宾杜里区）下辖的12个社区的1400名农户总体中，抽取300名农户作为调研样本。本研究设计的问卷以计划行为理论构念作为核心变量，同时涵盖了农户获取农药信息的主要渠道、采用的农药处置方式以及个人防护装备（Personal Protective Equipment, PPE）的使用情况相关问题。研究使用IBM SPSS及SmartPLS软件对数据进行分析，以得出研究结果。结果显示，计划行为理论构念可有效预测农户安全农药使用的意愿与行为，二者的预测系数分别为29%与38%。