Relationship between socio-economic variables and preference towards herbal-based products: the Malay experience

Herbal-based products are getting popular in Malaysia especially among Malays due to their claimed benefits. However, some Malay consumers prefer not to consume herbal-based products for many reasons. The objective of this study is to determine consumers' perception towards herbal-based products as an alternative medicine. A total of 150 Malay respondents were selected to take part in this study. Face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire were carried out to get responses among the respondents in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The results revealed that Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali) was the most preferred herb among the majority followed by Orthosiphon aristatus (Misai Kuching), Labisia pumila (Kacip Fatimah) and Centella asiatica (Pegaga). Ficus deltoidea (Mas Cotek) was the least preferred herb among the respondents in this study. Most of the herbal-based products were consumed as a source of energy, for health and fitness, to cure sickness and disease and for enhancing beauty. This study provides some information on the perception towards herbal-based products consumption among Malay consumers

Knowledge, attitude, and practices of swiftlet ranchers in sustainable swiftlet ranching in Johor, Malaysia

The swiftlet ranching is an activity that conducted in bird house that imitate cave-like environment in order to provide alternative nesting sites to lure the swiftlet birds with remain natural living style (behaviour). The swiftlet ranching activities mainly rely on the nature and environment. Thus, the environment factor is the main concern in the swiftlet industry as to keep the industry for a long term. Uncontrolled development of swiftlet houses can cause a sustainable risk to the industry. One of the main issues is regarding environmental disturbance for public surrounding the bird house. Swiftlet ranchers commonly use „bird calling sound‟ to attract the birds and build their nests in the bird house. The ranchers will keep on playing the sounds from morning until evening to attract more birds to come to their bird house The specific objectives of this study are to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) levels of swiftlet ranchers towards sustainable swiftlet ranching; to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practices levels of swiftlet ranchers; to examine the relationship between knowledge, attitude and practices levels and swiftlet ranchers socio-demographic profiles; determine factors that influence sustainable swiftlet ranching which affect the ranchers‟ knowledge, attitude, and practices levels of swiftlet ranchers towards sustainable swiftlet ranching and to determine the effectiveness of EBN production and socio-demographic profiles on swiftlet ranchers‟ KAP levels. A total of 136 ranchers were selected from Johor and face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data using a structured questionnaire. The result showed that 71.3% ranchers have an adequate knowledge level. The knowledge level was determined based on overall score. Among the ranchers, 66.7% ranchers showed they have a favourable attitude towards sustainable swiftlet ranching. The result also indicated that 61.76% ranchers had high level of sustainable practices in their ranching activities. The Pearson correlation result showed that the knowledge level and attitude were positively related with scores of 0.768 and 0.827 for knowledge level and sustainable practices respectively. The relationship between attitude and practices was positively related with score of 0.932. The Pearson correlation was significant at 1% level of significance. Meanwhile, based on the results from factor analysis, three main factors were revealed to influence sustainable swiftlet ranching namely economic, social, and environment. Multiple liner regression using factor scores from the factor analysis was employed to indentify the most influential factor for sustainable practices among the respondents. The result revealed the respondents‟ practices level and economy, social and environment factors have positive relationships. Further, logistic regression was employed in this study to measure the effect of EBN production and socio-demographic factors on respondents‟ KAP levels. The study found that the socio-demographic variables such as age, level of education, attend course, EBN production, and years of experience have significant relationship between swiftlet respondents‟ KAP levels. An improvement in the government policy is urgently required. Since the results of this study clearly showed that education and attending seminars on swiftlet ranching revealed to have significant effects on respondent‟s KAP levels, more related programmes, seminars and workshops should be conducted by government agencies. The existing policy which is mainly focused on EBN production includes less focus or attention to sustainable issues in the swiftlet ranching. Sustainable practices are a grass root to ensure the survival of swiftlet industry for long term. The extensions agencies must keep working with respondents and others parties in order to improve and strengthen the swiftlet industry in Malaysia

Behavioural determinants of ranchers towards sustainable edible-nest swiftlet ranching in Malaysia

The edible-nest swiftlet ranching is a unique industry in the agriculture sector in Malaysia, which also holds the same position in a global context. The edible-nest swiftlet ranching is an activity of which the edible-nest swiftlet birds are lured into a man-made building (bird house) which emulates a cave-like environment in order to provide alternative nesting sites to populate their colony. This edible bird nest (EBN) will be collected by a rancher after the young bird starts to fly. In the edible-nest swiftlet ranching, the birds will have the freedom to live in their natural “lifestyle” and will not be disturbed by the ranchers in any aspects. The development of the edible-nest swiftlet ranching in Malaysia has expanded rapidly when the Malaysian government gave special attention to the sector. However, this has led to an unplanned expansion among the ranchers which triggered several sustainability issues. If the sustainability issues are not handled well, the future of the sector will be at stake. Thus, it is indeed important to study the ranchers’ behaviour in the context of sustainable edible-nest swiftlet ranching in Malaysia. The assessment of the edible-nest swiftlet ranchers’ behaviour in implementing sustainable ranching practices was established as the general objective of the study. The conceptual framework was designed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour (TIB), and Theory of Organisational Knowledge Creation (SECI Model) to achieve the specific objectives of the study. This study was divided into three stages, namely pre-test, pilot study, and actual study. The pre-test stage was carried out mainly in the instrument development and the research design. In the second stage, the pilot study was carried out with a sample of 107 respondents to determine the underlying determinants on each main construct. The final stage which was the actual study, a total of 650 respondents were interviewed to get their in-depth responses. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, reliability analysis, chi-square analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmation factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyse the data. The socio-demographic background of the respondents and their involvement in the ranching sector were detailed out as part of the main findings of the study. The results further revealed that most of the respondents were involved in the ranching sector with the raw uncleaned EBN as their end product, while the type of bird house that widely used was the single lot. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in this study to confirm the four factors namely externalisation, combination, socialisation, and internalisation have contributed to the ranchers’ knowledge in terms of sustainable edible-nest swiftlet ranching. Furthermore, it was found that four constructs namely attitude, peer factor, affect, and self-efficacy have influenced the ranchers’ psychology to practise sustainable edible-nest swiftlet ranching practices. All these four constructs also influenced the ranchers’ intention to practice sustainable practices. The second order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that six factors have influenced the role of governance in enhancing the sustainability of the edible-nest swiftlet ranching. Besides that, the perceive attributes of the sustainable practices have also influenced the implementation level of sustainable practices in the edible-nest swiftlet ranching. The study identified and confirmed that the ten perceived attributes of sustainable practices of edible-nest swiftlet ranching were relative advantage, image, perceived resources, compatibility, trialability, ease of use, perceived risk, visibility, voluntariness, and result demonstrability. All the constructs showed a positive effect on sustainable practices. Thus, by implementing these constructs into edible-nest swiftlet ranching practices, it could be part of the policy maker strategies for knowledge transformation among the ranchers and thus sustainable edible-nest swiftlet ranching could be achieved. Indeed, the role of the agriculture governance is really crucial in keeping the sustainability of the sector for a long term

Sustainability: a comprehensive literature

Sustainability has become vital aspects for today's world and the future to come. Various definition of sustainability have added to the confusion with respect to sustainability in people's mind and in the organizations. A collection of different sustainability frameworks, indicators and tools have provided important insights about the outcomes of the sustainability process and in providing analytical and logical designs for sustainability. However, implementing sustainable practices has been overlooked by the majority of the organizations. Identifying the challenges and integrating with the tools in the form of indicators, assessment, and strategies will be a good start for an organization to be sustainable. The organizations that develop and implement sustainable practices are recognized as a success in sustainability. This chapter aims to provide an outline for sustainability with strategies, assessment, indicators, and application for better products and create and maintain business and customer value

Rancher's self-efficacy on practicing sustainable edible-nest swiflet ranching practices

The demand for edible-nest is increasing over the years. Ranchers as a key player in this industry plays a vital role in keeping the industry sustainable for a long term. This study was aimed to identify factors that lead to rancher’s self-efficacy on practicing sustainable practices. The study revealed five factors that associated with sustainable ranching practices. Policy makers are recommended to provide a proper attention on extension services towards implementing sustainable ranching practices to the ranchers