Farmers' knowledge, attitude, and practice of rural industrial land changes and their influencing factors: Evidences from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

Abstract

Rural industrial land within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has undergone significant and profound changes because of the decisions of local micro-subjects. This study uses the knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) analysis framework to analyze how farmers understand rural industrial land changes (RILC), how much farmers are willing to participate in RILC, and whether farmers have participated in RILC activities. Our results highlight that improving farmers’ knowledge regarding RILC is an effective method to increase the participation of local farmers in RILC activities and projects, and the degree of impact on farmers' practice from large to small is followed by the household effect, rural effect, and concept. A structural equation model was also developed to analyze the factors influencing the KAP of farmers. Although variation exists in the significant predictors of the different KAP components, political post, residential land ownership, farmland ownership, age, and employment satisfaction are shown to be the main external factors affecting farmer KAP. The structure of farmers' knowledge should be understood in detail to improve the level of knowledge of farmers. In addition, the publicity and education regarding RILC need to be improved to increase the understanding of farmers regarding rural industrial land policies to allow them to truly grasp the positive role of RILC, form good expectations for RILC and participate in sustainable rural industrial land use activities.