Monteiro Markus A, Bahta Yonas T, Jordaan Henry
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):23277. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-04775-x.
Agriculture is one of the largest consumers of water worldwide. To sustain these precious resources, effective water management is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 by 2030. To address the pressing challenges of water scarcity and increasing food demand, various water management strategies have been explored, focusing on technological innovations, policy frameworks, and economic incentives. Among these strategies, the adoption of water-saving technologies (WSTs) has gained particular prominence due to their potential to drastically reduce water usage in agriculture while maintaining crop productivity. However, the adoption rates of WSTs remain low in many agricultural contexts, highlighting the need to understand farmers' behaviour and decision-making processes. This study aims to model the intentions of irrigators in adopting WSTs in the Orange Riet Irrigation Scheme of the Free State Province of South Africa using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The analysis employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of WSTs among maize irrigators. The findings indicate that attitudes and subjective norms significantly influence irrigators' intentions to adopt WSTs, while perceived behavioural control does not show a notable impact. These insights suggest that interventions should prioritize raising awareness about the benefits of WSTs, leveraging social networks, and addressing potential barriers such as high upfront costs and technical complexity. By understanding the factors driving WST adoption, targeted strategies (such as awareness campaigns, peer engagement, and reducing financial barriers) can be developed to enhance sustainable water management in similarly stressed environments and contributes to achieving the SDG2, African Union CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035 of ending hunger and poverty and intensifying sustainable food production, agro-industrialization, and trade, respectively.
农业是全球最大的水资源消耗行业之一。为了维持这些宝贵的资源，有效的水资源管理对于在2030年前实现可持续发展目标6至关重要。为应对水资源短缺和粮食需求不断增加的紧迫挑战，人们探索了各种水资源管理策略，重点是技术创新、政策框架和经济激励措施。在这些策略中，节水技术的采用因其有可能在维持作物产量的同时大幅减少农业用水而备受关注。然而，在许多农业环境中，节水技术的采用率仍然很低，这凸显了了解农民行为和决策过程的必要性。本研究旨在运用计划行为理论（TPB）对南非自由邦省奥兰治里特灌溉区灌溉者采用节水技术的意图进行建模。分析采用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）来研究影响玉米灌溉者采用节水技术的因素。研究结果表明，态度和主观规范显著影响灌溉者采用节水技术的意图，而感知行为控制并未显示出显著影响。这些见解表明，干预措施应优先提高对节水技术益处的认识，利用社会网络，并解决诸如前期成本高和技术复杂性等潜在障碍。通过了解推动节水技术采用的因素，可以制定有针对性的策略（如宣传活动、同行参与和减少财务障碍），以加强类似压力环境下的可持续水资源管理，并有助于实现可持续发展目标2、非洲联盟《2026-2035年综合非洲农业发展计划战略和行动计划》，分别是消除饥饿和贫困以及加强可持续粮食生产、农业工业化和贸易。
