Effect of Incentives on the Collective Action of Farmer Organisations: A Case Study of Tea Smallholding Development Societies in Sri Lanka

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Collective action; Farmer Organisation; Tea smallholding development Societies; Financial incentives

Abstract

The Farmer Organisations (FOs) are community-based, predominantly non-profit organisations operating independently of the state and the private sector. The existence of FOs is greatly challenged worldwide in the present neoliberal economic context. Therefore, it was imperative to find a solution for the present situation faced by farmer organisations, considering the contextual factors and other dynamics. The government of Sri Lanka established the Tea Smallholding Development Societies (TSHDS), the FOs, in the tea sector by a legislative act to facilitate the smallholders’ development, marketing, welfare and financing. This study sought, to evaluate the collective action of the TSHDSs and investigate the influence of incentives on the collective action of TSHDSs. The unit of analysis was TSHDSs, and 120 TSHDS were selected using cluster, stratified and random sampling techniques. The sampling units were drawn from seven major tea smallholding districts in Sri Lanka. Data were collected from key officials and members of TSHDS using structured questionnaires. Descriptive analysis, Spearman correlation test, Wilcoxon sign rank test, and factor analysis were employed to analyze the data. Results revealed that tangible and non-tangible economic benefits generated within the entity act as an incentive and cyclically promote the collective action of the members in a virtuous cycle. The commercialisation of FOs leads to enhance voluntary cooperation in the TSHDS. This study emphasizes the importance of having an internal mechanism within the TSHDS to generate benefits through collaborative activities. Finally, this study recommends removing government intervention in controlling FOs and adopting an appropriate commercialization approach.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - K. G. J. P. Mahindapala
AU  - M. W. A. P. Jayatilaka
AU  - L. N. A. C. Jayawardane
AU  - A. Abeysooriy
AU  - P. D. D. Alwis
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/15
TI  - Effect of Incentives on the Collective Action of Farmer Organisations: A Case Study of Tea Smallholding Development Societies in Sri Lanka
BT  - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 240
EP  - 262
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_14
ID  - Mahindapala2026
ER  -