Explaining intention to apply renewable energy in agriculture: the case of broiler farms in Southwest Iran

ABSTRACT

The government of Iran has established national targets for the deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) across various sectors in the country, including agriculture. Human factors, such as the intention and willingness to use RES, are crucial for understanding RES deployment. This paper focuses on one group of stakeholders, farmers in Iran, and investigates what factors influence their intention and willingness to use RES in the energy-intensive broiler industry. The theoretical basis of the study is the health belief model (HBM). Empirical data were collected using a survey, which was developed based on the available evidence of human factors of the energy transition. Cronbach’s alpha was used to examine the internal reliability of the items of each variable through a pilot study. All scales had acceptable to good reliabilities of about 0.67 to 0.79. Altogether, 150 broiler farm owners participated, selected from Bushehr Province in southern Iran using a random sampling procedure. Structural equation modeling showed that 67% of the variation in farmer intention to use RES can be estimated. Cue to action, self-efficacy, and general health concern, also have a significant effect on intention, whereas other variables do not. The findings showed the HBM to be an effective tool for predicting farmers’ intentions to use RES. Based on these findings, more information needs to be provided to people to encourage them to use RES. Energy policy programs should pay special attention to educational and awareness-raising programs when seeking to increase renewable energy and other environmental behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Renewable energy sources (res)
• poultry agroindustry
• health beliefs model (hbm)
• energy policy in iran