RESUMO
Compliance with feed safety standards and practices on the farm promotes sustainable livestock production and can positively affect the environment and human health. This study aims to examine farmers' on-farm adoption of feed safety practices and determine the differences in adoption according to the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. An online survey was conducted to collect the study data. The study participants consisted of 442 livestock farmers in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. The study findings revealed that farmers highly adopted categories of feed purchasing (77.9 %) and feed mixing and distribution (75.05 %), whereas they were considered as a moderate level adoption regarding feed storing (70.9 %). The cluster analysis results showed two main patterns of adoption- "high adopters" and "moderate adopters"-based on the average level of adoption for 25 feed safety practices examined. The cluster of "high adopters" accounted for 59.9 % of the sample and had higher average adoption in all practices examined. The findings revealed that there are significant differences between the two segments of farmers, corresponding to gender, membership in livestock association, extension contact, raising sheep, and feeding system. This study proposes the regular monitoring of farms to ensure strict adherence to feed safety regulations, with the implementation of awareness and capacity development initiatives pertaining to feed safety concerns.
RESUMO
The issue of the agricultural cooperatives' sustainability in developing their businesses is gaining increasing prominence. Building partnerships between development actors and agricultural cooperatives has been considered an effective strategy for supporting financial capital and addressing sustainability issues collectively. Therefore, this study aimed to address the features and strengths of 33 partnerships established between the Beekeeping Cooperative Association in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia, and other actors between 2016 and 2021. The analysis of the collaborations was based on six criteria: motivations, partnership planning, outputs, governance practices, outcomes, and sustainability of a partnership. Furthermore, we developed a weighted scoring model to control variable selection and submit the strength of each partnership. The findings indicated that most collaborations (45.5%) were signed with the private sector. Furthermore, the honey value chain development was the most frequent reason (69.7%) attracting the partners to engage in the partnerships. Some of the most critical environmental objectives targeted by the partnerships examined were enhancing bee habitat by the diversification of pasture species, management to increase the flowering period, and proper grazing management. All partners achieved their individual goals jointly in 54.5% of the partnerships analyzed. In terms of a partnership's strength, the findings also revealed that only three partnerships (9.1%) were characterized as strong partnerships. This study provides a better understanding of how agricultural cooperatives collaborate with other actors and a basis for assessing the strength of the partnerships. Such information is crucial for developing relevant policies to encourage cooperatives to engage in future sustainability partnerships.
