Pilot Testing on The Level of Knowledge and Perception of Green Practices in Livestock Sector Among Local Consumers

Abstract

The livestock sector is vital to the global food chain. The demand for livestock products increases proportionally with the global population. Rearing livestock animals comes with inevitable environmental impacts. Adopting green practices in the livestock production chain may help lessen the impact. This pilot study aims to identify local consumers' level of knowledge and perception of adopting green practices in the livestock sector. A questionnaire consisting of three sections (Demography, Knowledge, Perception) was developed. Thirty-two respondents who are the primary decision-makers for household grocery shopping participated in the study. The respondents comprise 50.00% private sector employees, 28.13% government servants, and the rest are unemployed. The education level of the respondents is 40.63% with a diploma or equivalent, 34.38% with a higher degree, while the rest completed either secondary or primary education. The majority of the respondents (75.00%) chose price as the main criteria they considered when buying livestock products, followed by quality (68.75%), origin (46.88%), certification (31.25%), and only 12.55% included environmental impacts in their decision making. An average of 73.61% of the respondents have general knowledge of the green practices in the livestock sector. About 78.65% of the respondents positively perceive the idea of adopting green practices in the livestock sector. The correlation between education level and the respondents' knowledge and perception of green practices in the livestock sector was also evaluated. Overall, the study revealed a strong positive correlation between education level and green practices knowledge and education level with positive perception towards adopting green practices in the livestock sector. Based on the data collected, it is recommended that the study be conducted with a larger population to give a more accurate representation of the livestock consumer in Malaysia.