Behavior assessment of Tehran citizens to participate in urban agriculture the Case of District 22 of Tehran city

A B S T R A C T
Today, human food supply sources are threatened by various factors, such as the reduction of arable and fertile land on a local scale, the increasing dependence on fossil fuels for the production, processing and transportation of food on a global scale. Rethinking the process of production to consumption and self-sufficiency in meeting urban needs are among the solutions that emerge in the form of a new type of agriculture called urban agriculture. This research aimed to investigate the participation and factors affecting it for developing urban agriculture in Tehran city. The research was descriptive and correlational which was conducted through a survey method. Questionnaire was the main tool for data gathering which was validated using some agricultural extension and education experts’ points of view. Cronbach's alpha for different parts of the questionnaire was calculaed and were acceptable. According to the findings, all the variables, except the subjective norm, have an average more than moderate. The results of the correlation between the variables indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between all variables and citizens’ behavior to participate in urban agriculture. According to the findings, among the studied variables, perceived behavioral control has the highest correlation and total causal effect, and then the intention has the highest total causal effect on citizens' behavior to participate in urban agriculture. According to the results, practical suggestions have been presented for extension and development of urban agriculture in Tehran city
Extended Abstarct
Introduction
With its relatively large geographical area and high population, Tehran faces challenges that require complete and comprehensive planning for development and management of the city.
Air and noise pollution, land use changes and unauthorized construction, structural challenges and wrong policies in the field of urban land transfer, increasing the amount of runoff from municipal waste and increasing the volume of municipal wastewater has endangered the health and quality of life of citizens in this metropolis. In order to provide a suitable solution to face the problems created in Tehran, the idea of urban agriculture as a suitable and sustainable strategy, can be used in various economic, environmental and social fields. Urban agriculture in general is the production of edible and non-edible plants and horticultural and livestock products in the city and its suburbs. The overall goal of urban agriculture is to respect the potential for healthy living and nature in the city, and to achieve this goal, three goals are pursued: improving and protecting the ecological structure of the land, recreating social participation, and the urban economy.
District 22 is known as one of the 22 districts as a tourism hub and area of sustainable urban development and has been selected as a pilot area for urban agriculture due to its open spaces and numerous forest parks. Then, this research aimed to investigate the participation and factors affecting it for developing urban agriculture in this district.
 
 Methodology
This descriptive and correlational research was conducted through a survey method. The statistical population consisted of all citizens in district 22 of Tehran Municipality (N~ 560000). Using the Krejcie and Morgan’s table and simple random sampling method 384 people were selected as sample (n = 384) and finally 300 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Questionnaire was the main tool for data gathering, which was validated using some agricultural extension and education experts’ points of view. Cronbach's alpha for different sections of the questionnaire was calculated between 0.84 and 0.92. Behavior, intention, attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are the main components of the questionnaire which have been measured based on the Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26. The statistics used in the descriptive statistics section are: central dispersion index (mean, frequency, percentage, minimum and maximum) and dispersion indices (standard deviation and coefficient of variation). In the inferential statistics section, according to the type of the data, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients and in order to investigate the direct and indirect effects of the studied independent variables on the dependent variable, path analysis technique was used.
 
 Results and discussion
Regarding the level of familiarity with urban agriculture, about 17% of citizens stated that they are familiar and 83% stated that they are not familiar with this type of agriculture. Comparison of information sources of familiarity with urban agriculture indicates that from viewpoints of the first group familiarity with people who had experience in urban agriculture and watching TV programs mentioned as the first and second priorities of their familiarity with this type of agriculture. The second group mentioned watching TV and questions from those who have experience in this type of agriculture as their sources of information for familiarity with urban agriculture.
The mean of the main variables (behavior, intention, attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) indicates that except for subjective norms, all other variables have a mean more the average (3). The results showed that there were positive and significant relationship between all main variables. According to the findings, among the studied variables, perceived behavioral control has the highest correlation and total causal effect, and then the intention has the highest total causal effect on citizens' behavior to participate in urban agriculture.
 
 Conclusion
Despite the role of attitude and perceived behavioral control, the role of citizens' subjective norms in motivating them to engage in urban agriculture is low evaluated. This means that the role of both citizen’s past experiences and those around them in motivating them to engage in urban agriculture are small. The perceived behavior control variable has the greatest causal effect on the citizens' motivation to participate in urban agriculture. According to the Ajzen's theory of planned behavior perceived behavioral control consists of three sub-components: self-efficacy, facilitation and access to resources. In fact, citizens decide on the actual behavior according to their abilities and self-reliance, as well as the available conditions and available facilities. According to the information obtained from the study area, it is suggested that in order to develop urban agriculture in District 22 and to stimulate the intention of the citizens to participate in doing urban agriculture, the conditions for access to facilities and resources should be provided.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.