Despite increasing international demand and an increasing production, Bangladesh lags behind in prawn exports due to its inability to uphold minimum international safety and quality standards. This deficiency undermines its competitiveness in the global market, hindering potential economic gains. To thrive in the lucrative prawn export sector, Bangladesh must prioritize stringent adherence to internationally recognized safety and quality protocols. By doing so, it can enhance its reputation as a reliable supplier, meet the expectations of discerning consumers worldwide, and unlock the full potential of its prawn industry on the global stage. With farmes being the central stage in the value chain to improve safety and quality, this study investigates the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of safer prawn production among prawn producers in Bangladesh. Primary data included one hundred and eight respondents that were randomly selected from the Khulna district to fulfill the objectives. The KAP index using the Likert scale was calculated based on collected data to assess the level of KAP and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used to identify the factors affecting and the interrelationship among KAP towards safe prawn production.
Results reveal that although the majority (76%) exhibit a positive attitude towards safety measures , about two-thirds of the farmers display a moderate to poor level of knowledge on safe prawn production. A substantial portion (43%) of them were unable to fully implement best practices for prawn production . The study further found that farmers’ knowledge has a significant effect on the relationship between attitude and practices, where attitude positively impacts practices toward safe prawn production (Figure 1) . The hypothesized model for safe prawn production knowledge, attitude, and practices had a good fit and was acceptable. Education, farm size, and training were identified as influential factors in shaping farmers’ knowledge levels, while age, experience, and training significantly influenced their attitudes. Moreover, a strong positive link between knowledge, attitudes, and practices emphasizes the importance of fostering a comprehensive understanding of safe prawn production.
To ensure safe prawn production at the farm level, this study recommends developing and implementing targeted education and education programs, supporting young farmers, promoting extension services, providing financial incentives, implementing monitoring and certification systems and providing government incentives for safe production among the farmers.