Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

ASSESSING WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES (KAP) ON SAFE FISH PRODUCTION

Anindita Mandal* , Ummum Tamim Dolon, Md. Akhtaruzzaman Khan, Md. Saidur Rahman, Pratheesh Omana Sudhakaran , Madan Mohan Dey

Department of Agricultural Sciences,

Texas State University,

601 University Dr. San Marcos, TX 78666

Hob16@txstate.edu

 



 Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector  that is meeting the global protein requirements as well  as creating  a stable  earning source for many people.  However, women’s contribution in aquaculture is immensely unrecognized, especially for safe fish production. Therefore, t his study investigates women’s contribution to aquaculture and their knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) on safe fish production in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh considering  120 randomly  selected women.  This study was conducted on polyculture fish production system .  The KAP index was estimated to assess KAP level, and the Tobit model was used to determine the factors influencing KAP level of women.  In addition, Structural Equation Model (SEM) was employed to determine the causal relationship among knowledge, attitude, and practice on safe fish production. Preliminary result s revealed  that,  women had significant contribution in fish production activities  which was about 19.18% in terms of total person-days in a year.  Among different  fish  farming activities, women contributed significantly  (81.61%) to feed application during the culture period.  Based on the KAP index,  women’s  level  of knowledge and attitude on safe fish production were acceptable and good respectively, but practice  level were not satisfactory.  Furthermore, experience, training, farm ownership, and connection with pharmaceutical companies had statistically significant  positive  effects on the KAP level. On the contrary,  education had insignificant effects on their KAP level. The results of SEM analysis found a significant positive association between women’s knowledge with practice and attitude level. Considering the findings, increasing level of knowledge of women  can improve attitude and practice towards safer fish production . Hence, the government and NGOs should pay special attention to improving safe fish production knowledge, attitudes, and practices of women to recognize women’s contribution and enhance nutrition security for millions of fish-dependent households.