Downstream Activities at the Felda Land Development Scheme: Analysis on Motivational Factors of Women’s Participation in Business Activities

Abstract

Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) in Malaysia has been a successful land development agency for the past fifty-two years. Established on 1 July 1956, it is the main government instrument in reducing rural poverty in the Federation of Malaya. FELDA itself has grown into a conglomerate with numerous subsidiaries and joint-venture companies engaged in a variety of related upstream and downstream business. This paper deals with women’s participation in downstream activities. It provides an analysis on the motivational factors that influence the participation of the said activities among women in land development scheme. The objective of the study is to analyse motivational factors that encourage women to get involve in business activities. The study is quite important because FELDA wanted the settlers, men or women, to do more than just managing their oil palm or rubber holding but they must also become entrepreneurs in order to diversify their source of income. A set of questionnaire had been used as a method for data collection and it was distributed to 292 respondents involved in the downstream activities. There were ten areas surveyed which include FELDA Raja Alias, FELDA Jengka, FELDA, FELDA Jelai, FELDA Chini, FELDA Palong, FELDA Pasak, FELDA Air Tawar, FELDA and FELDA Palong Timur, which are located in Malaysia. The data obtained were then analyzed by the Statistical Packages for the Social Science (SPSS) 21.0. This was conducted in order to obtain the frequency, percentage as well as factor analysis and the reliability tests of each item as well as the constructs. In addition, the study also employed SPSS AMOS version 5 for the evaluation of the relationship among the motivation items by using structural equation model. Besides that, the study using the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in looking personality traits that posses by women entrepreneurs. In general the findings showed that ‘the desire for success’ as the most important factor that encourages women entrepreneurs to run the downstream activities. This factor’s items include ‘the need of entrepreneurs to fulfill the dream of having their own business and through the downstream activities that are carried out, women entrepreneurs are able to gain the experience and learn how to be responsible in running a business’. In addition, the study also found that self-control and psychological support factor might also encourage the women to participate in the activities. The items related to this factor include ‘not to give up, have support from friends and family and proud to be an entrepreneur’.