A study on the influencing factors and related paths of farmer's participation in food safety governance-based on DEMATEL-ISM-MICMAC model

Farmers' participation in food safety governance is an important part of food safety social co-governance, and the accurate identification of its influencing factors and their related paths is of guiding significance to the scientific decision-making of food safety governance. The system of influencing factors of farmers' participation in food safety governance was constructed from four dimensions, and the influence network of each dimension was revealed by decision laboratory analysis (DEMATEL). The hierarchical structure and correlation path of influencing factors were determined by interpretive structural model (ISM), and the attributes of influencing factors were further classified by cross influence matrix multiplication (MICMAC). The results show that the influencing factors of farmers' participation in food safety governance can be divided into seven levels, among which the level of education and the status of village cadres are the fundamental characteristic factors. The degree of rural informatization, the intensity of government supervision, the promotion of village committees, the response of the government and the degree of disclosure of government information are the deep core factors, and risk cognition, political trust and family eating habits are special factors. Taking the importance and attribute status of farmers' participation in food safety governance into decision-making considerations is of great significance to improve the efficiency of food safety governance.

Automated summary

Farmers' participation in food safety governance is crucial for effective food safety social co-governance. Identifying the influencing factors and their pathways is significant for making informed decisions in food safety governance. The study used decision laboratory analysis (DEMATEL) to construct an influencing factor system and interpretive structural model (ISM) to determine the hierarchical structure and correlation path. Cross influence matrix multiplication (MICMAC) was employed to classify the attributes of influencing factors. The findings reveal that factors such as education, village cadres, rural informatization, government supervision, village committees, government response, government information disclosure, risk cognition, political trust, and family eating habits contribute to farmers' participation in food safety governance. Taking into account the importance and attributes of farmers' participation can greatly enhance the efficiency of food safety governance.