Knowledge of rural women in some environmental issues in Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan region of Iraq

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify the rural women’s knowledge in some environmental domains in Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan region of Iraq. Area random sampling was used to select the research sample which is (507) rural women. A questionnaire was designed to collect the research data, which is consisted of two parts, the independent variables and knowledge test consisted of (47) items distributed on four domains (Home waste management, Sustainable agriculture, Sustainable methods of using and conservation of forest, and Rural tourism). Experts and content validity were used to achieve the validity of the knowledge test, and Kurder-Richardson21 formula was used to measure the reliability of it, it is value was (0.777). The data was analyzed with SPSS program. The results showed that knowledge level of the respondents in all the studied environmental domains is medium tends to low. Home waste management domain ranked the first (=7.719). While rural tourism domain ranked the last (=4.888). The result also showed that there is significant correlation between the knowledge level of respondents and each of the following variables (Level of education, Satisfaction with services in the village, Agricultural information sources, and Cultural openness). While there is no significant correlation with :( Age, Material status, Current work, and Participation in family decision –making). The research included some conclusion and recommendations.