Knowledge, Attitude, and Protective Behavior against Pesticide Health Risks: The Case of Vegetable Farmers in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Health consequences of harmful pesticide use are a growing concern in developing countries. As an analytical framework for farmers' protective behavior, the literature has long proposed the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) model in which knowledge translates to perceptions, leading to behavioral changes. However, there are mixed results on the role of knowledge and perceptions in farmers' self-protection against pesticide-related health risks. This study tests the KAB model using survey data from 138 vegetable farmers in northern Vietnam, in a regression framework. The empirical results show that knowledge affects general protection practices (e.g., handwashing after spraying) in the direct and indirect pathways via risk perceptions. In contrast, knowledge affects personal protective equipment use through attitudes relevant to risk perceptions, consistent with the classical linear progression in the KAB model. Thus, risk perceptions mediate the link between risk awareness and protection against pesticide-related health risks. Overall, the KAB model's goodness-of-fit to the data depends on protective actions, offering a possible explanation for the mixed results in the literature. We also identify poisoning experiences and advice from peers, retailers, and media, rather than governmental training, as significant sources of knowledge formation processes. Finally, we offer policy recommendations to facilitate safe pesticide use by small-scale Vietnamese farmers.