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Consulng Study 12:
The Felda case study
December 2015
Authors
This study was conducted between
March to April 2015 by Yuleng Khor of
LMC with research associates Dr Johan
Saravanamuu and Deborah Augusn.
LMC Internaonal Ltd
4th Floor, Clarendon House
52 Cornmarket Street
Oxford OX1 3HJ
United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 1865 791737
Fax: +44 1865 791739
info@lmc.co.uk
hps://www.lmc.co.uk/
© The High Carbon Stock Science Study 2015
This work is licensed under the Creave Commons Aribuon 4.0 Internaonal License. You are free to reuse, reprint, or republish
the work, in whole or in part, without wrien permission, provided that the source is acknowledged.
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This report has been independently prepared by the authors for the High Carbon Stock (HCS) Science Study. It is part of a series of
consulng studies on high carbon stock, in the areas of biomass esmaon, soil carbon dynamics, remote sensing, and
socio-eco nomics. Together, these consulng studies provide background informaon for the HCS Science Study’s synthesis report,
but also they constute stand-alone research that aims to shed light on this crical area of enquiry.
Contents
Introduction 06
Background & Methodology
Abbreviations 08
Executive Summary 10
• Expectaons in the next decade and broad lessons from Felda
• Posive & negave socio-economic outcomes for stakeholders 11
• Socio-economic impacts of plantaons and future expansion 12
• Instuonal features and mechanisms in context of HCS regulaons
• Smallholder cercaon, the need for assistance and incenves to parcipate in
sustainability
• Felda’s lessons on corporate farm-smallholder raos and micro-management 13
• Felda’s lessons on the need for rural planning and stakeholder relaons 14
Conclusions and questions for further research 15
Part 1: Overview of the Felda Smallholder Project 16
Preamble
• Development stage 1 - Financial assistance to state land development boards, and its
own new programme for pioneer farm exporters
19
• Development stage 2 - Felda pre-eminence and centralised management 20
• Development stage 3 - Novel systems revert to individual land ownership, a “package
deal” of smallholding with house plus social services
• Development stage 4 - Last selers emplaced in 1990, the development of commercial
estates and the growth of an agribusiness group
21
• Development stage 5 - Public lisng of Felda Global Ventures 22
• Felda case studies - Jengka in Pahang, Johor Tenggara, Sahabat in Sabah 23
Summary 25
Part 2A: The Felda Settler and Settlements 26
Synopsis
The Felda settler
• Seler origins
• Felda seler main income, costs and preferenal loans, grants and transfers 27
• Felda seler secondary incomes 31
• Felda seler as economic agents - FFB grading, sustainable cercaon, replanng 32
• Felda seler land ownership
• Felda seler ageing - migrant labour and share cropping 33
• Felda seler - family structure and development 34
• Second generaon issues - educaon, migraon, employment, social issues
• Felda seler outcome - creaon of a modern farmer and a rural middle class? 35
The Felda settlement 36
• Felda selement - green eld and brown eld sites
• Felda selement - social services
• Felda selement - local economy linkages 37
• Felda selement - the local environment
Summary 38
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Part 2B: Felda and its Institutional Context 39
Synopsis
• Policy, administration and external linkages
• Felda, state administration, management and politics 41
• Felda Group - local economic linkages 43
• Felda Group - ancillary, upstream and downstream activities 44
• Felda’s position in the national palm oil sector 47
• Felda’s economic multiplier effect and business linkages
• Felda and socio-environmental policy 50
Summary 53
Part 3: Synthesis and Evaluation 54
Evaluation
Expectations in next decade from the perspective of Felda 59
Socio-economic outcomes for stakeholders at settler and institutional levels
Socio-economic impacts of plantations and future expansion 61
How carbon stock thresholds are affected in expansion 62
Mitigating the impact of industry expansion
Institutional features and mechanisms in context of HCS regulations
Smallholder certification: the need for assistance and incentives to participate in
sustainability
65
Conclusions and questions for further research 67
Appendix 1: References and Bahasa Malaysia Literature Survey 68
References
Interviews 70
Appendix 1A: A Selected Listing of Socio-economic Literature on Felda from Key Universiti Malaya
Libraries and the Felda Library
71
Appendix 1B: Selected Literature Listing – Universiti Malaya and Felda libraries 75
List of Tables
Table ES.1: Estimated monthly income sources for 4 ha oil palm settler (RM) 11
Table ES.2: Felda settler costs, income and resourcing indicators 13
Table 1.1: Felda key development stages 18
Table 1.2: Felda settlers by state of origin, 1967, 1976, 1986 19
Table 1.3: Emplacement of Felda settlers by state, area and crop, 1987 20
Table 1.4: Monthly settler obligations for 4 ha rubber plot and 4 ha oil palm plot, 1986 21
Table 1.5: Sources of Felda funding, 1990-2004 22
Table 2A.1: Felda Settlers by State of Origin, 1967, 1976, 1986 26
Table 2A.2: Emplacement of Felda settlers by state, 1987 27
Table 2A.3: Daily rates for Felda settlers
Table 2A.4: Cost of resettling one family, 1976 and 1986 (RM) 28
Table 2A.5: Settlers’ average monthly net income (RM) 1979-2004 29
Table 2A.6: Settlers’ average monthly net income for 4.1 ha of oil palm 30
Table 2A.7: Estimated monthly income sources for 4 ha oil palm settler 31
Table 2A.8: Number of unsettled Felda inheritance applications in selected districts 33
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Table 2A.9: Pension rate for Felda settlers, Sungai Koyan, 1991
Table 2A.10: Malaysian citizens and non-citizens in FELDA Peninsular Malaysia, 1989 34
Table 2A.11: Kindergarten facilities in Felda settlements across Malaysia
Table 2A.12: Level of education settlers aspire to for children in Felda Semarak Jengka 15, Pahang,
2011
35
Table 2A.13: Land developed by Felda and state development programmes, 1961-1995 36
Table 2B.1: Felda smallholders and plantation area by crop, 2005 40
Table 2B.2: Felda settler costs, income and resourcing indicators
Table 2B.3: Felda Group employees, 2005 41
Table 2B.4: Sources of Felda funding, 1990-2004 43
Table 2B.5: Profits of Felda companies, 2002-2004 46
Table 3.1: Felda key data and facts 55
Table 3.2: Felda key outcomes and policy evolution, 1950s to 2010s 56
Table 3.3: Felda smallholder project’s macro lessons for current HCS issues 63
Table 3.4: Indicative costs for smallholder plot and home, Malaysia and Indonesia, 2015 (RM) 66
Table A1: Literature highlights on Felda settler socio-economics 72
Table A2: Selected Literature Listing on Felda and Felda Smallholders 75
List of Diagrams
Diagram ES.1: Oil palm and Malaysia total crop hectarage, 1961-1991 10
Diagram ES.2: Felda and Malaysia oil palm hectarage, 1960-2014
Diagram ES.3: National Felda settlers’ average net monthly income, 1979-2004 12
Diagram ES.4: Jengka multi-settlement, an example of the Felda approach 14
Diagram 1.1: Oil palm and Malaysia total crop hectarage, 1961-1991 16
Diagram 1.2: Felda and Malaysia oil palm hectarage, 1960-2014
Diagram 1.3: Felda locations in Malaysia - estates, mills and installations 18
Diagram 2A.1: Layout of typical Felda village 36
Diagram 2A.2: Layout of typical Felda house lot 37
Diagram 2A.3: Jengka multi-settlement
Diagram 2B.1: Felda organisation chart, 1991 (a) and 1993 (b) 45
Diagram 2B.2: Felda Global Ventures’ organisation chart 48
Diagram 3.1: National Felda settlers’ average net monthly incomes, 1979-2004 59
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Background & Methodology
There has been mounng pressure by NGOs on
sustainability and by the health fraternity against the
use of palm oil. This pressure is increasingly evident
in the European Union. It has also been a long
standing issue in the United States of America with
the opposion to palm oil as part of the broader an-
tropical oils campaign. The purpose of this study is
to provide some clarity on the design, evoluon and
outcomes of the Felda scheme for its smallholders and
its posion within the Malaysian economy and socio-
polical sphere. It also seeks to examine the situaon
of the Felda smallholders and Felda commercial enes
within the regional, naonal and global trade and use of
edible oils.
NGO pressures on sustainability point to lower future
producon and consumpon growth, but it is likely that
this will not happen in a straighorward manner and
there will be many unancipated consequences. The
concept of sustainability has been made operaonal
via cercaon and traceability systems designed
primarily for larger corporate users. There has been
limited aenon on equitable economic and market
access. There are widespread worries about inequitable
distribuon of market access, which limits impacts and
raises the opportunity costs for smallholders within
changing global supply-chains.
A case study of the Felda smallholder scheme and its
outcomes can inform the debate, by analysing over-
simplied arguments. Concerns include the funding for
smallholders; changes in mill zoning by risk, which may
harm smallholder market access; and mul-er pricing
(discounng) with special concerns for perceived high
risk regions including peat land zones.
This study was conducted between March to April
2015 by Yuleng Khor of LMC with research associates
Dr Johan Saravanamuu and Deborah Augusn.
Starng with a selected literature review of the Felda
in English and Bahasa Malaysia1, the study delved
into Felda smallholder livelihoods and prepared an
examinaon of the macro instuonal features and
Introducon
evoluon of the internaonally highly-regarded Felda
programme. The challenge was to tease out from nearly
six decades of history, the nuances of Felda’s micro and
macro-level lessons for present day oil palm expansion
under the emerging high carbon stock (HCS) regimes.
In addion, 10 primary interviews were conducted
with Felda and industry sustainability specialists to
ll in gaps in historical understanding (notably on
socio-environmental policies including deforestaon
and indigenous peoples), as well as to understand
the challenges for Felda selers (and other Felda mill
suppliers) ng into the evolving NGO cum processor-
trader driven sustainable and traceable supply-chains
for palm oil.
In this review:
• Part 1 provides a history of the Felda project
indicang how its unique model of the reselement
of landless farmers began in 1956 and has over
some ve decades succeeded in raising smallholder
household incomes considerably above the naonal
poverty line, prompng some observers to consider
it as one of the most successful land selement
organisaons in the world. Felda had developed from
a state-run statutory authority, where selers later
parcipated by way of share ownership within an
evolving corporate structure, to the establishment
of the global conglomerate Felda Global Ventures
(FGV) in 2012. The Felda scheme for smallholders
dovetailed neatly into Malaysia’s implementaon
of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1970, with
its twin objecves of eradicang poverty and
raising the economic lot of indigenous communies
(Bumiputera). Felda schemes lied about 122,000
families2 (equivalent to one million people), out of
poverty and helped a generaon of landless Malays
become a rural middle-class, with holdings of
typically four hectares of oil palm or rubber crops.
1 There is English language literature on Felda mainly in 1960-1990, but aer 1990 the literature is mostly in Bahasa Malaysia, including numerous eld
studies or theses by Malaysia university students that can be reviewed. Since the ocial 30 and 50 year anniversary books (published in 1988 and 2006) for
Felda, there has been a lack of recent data releases by Felda on smallholder incomes and other socio-economic outcomes.
2 We refer to about 122,000 seler families in this report. The actual seler intake in 1961-1990 was 122,809, yet Felda’s ocial 50 year book reports
102,621 selers (Lee and Bahrin 2006, p.25 and pp.236-244). The numbers used in various studies dier; 104,946 families in 1990 were menoned by
Ragayah 2013, and 112,635 Felda selers were members of KPF (FGV 2012). The reported number of selements also varies over me. “Up to 2005, Felda
would have fully developed a total of 322 schemes. However, since then, 5 schemes have converted their GSA status…. and 42 schemes have merged for
administrave purposes. Subsequently, there are 275 exisng schemes of which 74 schemes have achieved JKKK status.” (Lee and Bahrin 2006, p.19).
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• The second part of the study (2A) examined in
detail the selers and their selements, the criteria
for seler choices and where and how they were
emplaced. The majority of selers saw an increase in
income aer moving into the schemes and perceived
their post-selement lives as beer. However, these
socio-economic improvements that included school
infrastructure for seler children had an unintended
eect of creang a rural to urban migraon paern
among the selers’ children. This worked against the
schemes’ objecve of containing such migraon. This
out-migraon has connued, with the majority of the
Felda second generaon uninterested in agricultural
work.
• Part 2B examines the instuonal context of Felda
and its development as a corporate enty and its
impact on the smallholders. New dynamics and
relaonships invariably developed as Felda turned
into a massive conglomerate with a porolio of
upstream and downstream acvies, executed by a
plethora of subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate
companies. From its modest beginnings in 1956 with
its seler schemes, the Felda Group now sits at the
commanding heights of Malaysia’s palm oil industry
in a trajectory that has taken it from being a social
enterprise with its seler-centric approach to its
current prot-oriented stance as a global palm oil
conglomerate.
• In Part 3, we evaluate lessons from Felda’s micro-
level policies and the
macro-instuonal aspects of the key quesons
for the current phase of oil palm expansion under
the strictures of cercaon and new High Carbon
Stock regimes seeking to limit deforestaon in a
period when the compeon for land is expected to
be heightened along with heightened social issues,
compounded by higher aspiraons of the industry.
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Abbreviaons
CPO Crude palm oil.
CSPK RSPO’s Cered Sustainable Palm Kernels.
RSPO CSPK producon can be supported via
the GreenPalm book & claim credits system.
Higher levels of more costly cercaon
are RSPO CSPK physically traded via mass
balance, segregated and identy preserved
chains of custody opons which are in parallel
with the CSPO opons set at the palm oil mill
(see CSPO below).
CSPO RSPO’s Cered Sustainable Palm Oil.
GreenPalm book & claim credits are the
basic units that support the producon
of sustainable palm oil, but it is the higher
levels of cercaon that are demanded
and coveted. These are the RSPO CSPO
physically traded via the alternave mass
balance, segregated and identy preserved
chain of custody opons, where the palm oil
mill is the basic unit of cercaon together
with its supply-base of estates, associated
(scheme managed) smallholders, suppliers and
independent smallholders.
CSPKO RSPO’s Cered Sustainable Palm Kernel Oil.
The RSPO’s allows a 45% conversion rate
from CSPK. Because this is higher than most
actual palm kernel oil yields, most producers
use this rate. RSPO CSPKO producon can
be supported via the GreenPalm book & claim
credits system. Higher levels of more costly
cercaon are RSPO CSPKO physically
traded via the mass balance, segregated and
identy preserved chains of custody. CSPKO
is produced by cered PK crushers who
need to purchase suitable CSPK.
FELDA The Federal Land Development Authority of
Malaysia. Land was alienated to this statutory
body to operate a development programme
to alleviate rural poverty for about 122,000
poor families, using modern farming methods
to plant mostly 4 hectare oil palm and rubber
plots. This land development programme
reseled families in new communies (with
fully integrated social services) hewn out
of tropical forest zones mostly in the states
of Pahang, Johor and Negeri Sembilan in
Peninsular Malaysia. This was regarded as
one of the most successful smallholder
development programmes in the world. It
developed ancillary services and processing
facilies and grew into a full-edged
agribusiness with commercial oil palm estates
(largely developed aer 1990, the last year in
which selers were emplaced). Key commercial
assets of the Felda Group of companies were
listed via an IPO in 2012 (see FGV).
FFB Fresh fruit bunch of the oil palm tree. CPO
is processed from the eshy fruit and PKO is
processed from the PK recovered during the
milling of FFB.
FGV Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad. This
is the public-listed company that leases Felda
commercial estates and owns key processing
facilies of the Felda Group of companies.
HCS High carbon stock. Refers to above ground
biomass and also soil carbon. Environmental
concerns about deforestaon drive new
policies for the largest oil palm plantaons
to adopt policies to conserve forest with a
minimum threshold of carbon (to minimise
deforestaon and to allow for mature
shrubland regrowth) as well as to avoid
development of peat lands (to minimise
greenhouse gas emissions).
Policies of the TFT (closely associated with
the Greenpeace’s HCS Approach) traceability
programmes require that these areas be set
aside on a voluntary basis. However, such
set-asides may not be recognised in naonal
and local regulaons. RSPO announced in
May 2015 that it is developing a RSPO+
Voluntary Addendum that is expected
upgrade its policies (for an important sub-set
of its members) in a catch up to at least match
those of the newer sustainability / traceability
programmes. The Sustainable Palm Oil
Manifesto’s HCS Study is a new programme,
and an important evoluon for its member
companies.
HCV High conservaon value. These include
environmental (mostly biodiversity) and
social HCVs (including customary use areas
for access to water, food and for cultural
reasons). RSPO sustainability and other
traceability programmes require that grower
members do not develop these areas, instead
seng aside these lands on a voluntary
basis. However, such set asides may not be
recognised by and hence contravene naonal
and local regulaons.
In Indonesia plantaon estate area operated by
the land concessionaire. Regulaons generally
oblige the concessionaire to develop 20% of
the area for the benet of local smallholders.
Prior to the liberalisaon of this policy,
the in:plasma rao was the reverse, i.e.
20%:80%.
KPF Koperasi Permodalan Felda or the Felda
Investment Cooperave. Set up on July 1,
1980 as the cooperave of Felda selers and
employees. It came to own large key stakes
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in Felda Group businesses including palm oil
processing facilies, transport and bulking and
more. Felda selers and sta are members
and given the opportunity to investment on a
private equity basis in these businesses.
They earned 14% per year investment returns
over a 30 year period. In 2012, KPF had
approximately 220,000 members, of whom
112,635 are Felda selers. The rest are Felda
Group employees and the children of selers.
In late 2013, KPF sold o stakes in key Felda
businesses to FGV for cash. It also owns
shares in FGV.
NGO Non-governmental organisaon. In the
palm oil sector, these are grassroots and
campaigning organisaons that are focused
on environmental or social and labour issues.
OER Oil extracon rate of CPO from FFB. This
is an important measure for palm oil mill
processing. It is inuenced by the quality of
the fruit (its under- or over-ripeness). The
grading of the oil palm FFB aects the price
that growers (including smallholders) will
receive for their fruit.
P&C Principles and Criteria are the RSPO standard,
comprising over 130 indicators covering
environmental, social, good agricultural
pracce and economics. Palm oil producers
or growers cerfy their mill (and supply
base) through vericaon of the producon
process by third party auditors. Growers are
assessed for cercaon once every 5 years
and undergo annual assessment. Smallholders
have a simplied RSPO standard, but they
represent only 3.6% (114,000 hectares) of the
total RSPO cered area (as reported in late
2014, aer about 10 years). Larger producers
are predominant in the RSPO.
PK Palm kernel.
PKO Palm kernel oil.
RSPO The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is
a mul-stakeholder organisaon that has
developed a popular voluntary cercaon
scheme for sustainable palm oil, and it is
part of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s
(WWF) stable of commodity roundtables
that seeks to transform over 15 commodity
supply chains (including mber, agriculture
and sheries). The RSPO has reached its tenth
year and achieved a share of 18% of world
palm oil output. It faces rising compeon
from newer (possibly lower compliance cost)
programmes such as The Forest Trust (TFT).
TFT oers customised traceability systems
that track sustainable (cered or otherwise)
palm oil along the enre supply chain. TFT
is closely associated with Greenpeace (and
other NGOs) and has cricised the RSPO for
deciencies, instead promong policies for
“no deforestaon, no peat, no exploitaon”
while creang a new programme that allows
the largest processors-traders of palm oil
to connue to include small suppliers and
smallholders.
SCCS Supply chain actors (ex-mill facilies such
as reneries, palm kernel crushers, storage
tanks or bulking facilies and others up to and
including end consumer goods manufacturers
and others) who own and physically handle
RSPO cered products are audited against
the RSPO Supply Chain Cercaon
Standard. The 25 November 2011 version
currently in use is in the process of being
revised (previous versions include those dated
August 2008 and July 2009).
UMNO United Malays Naonal Organisaon is
the ethnic Malay polical party that heads
the Barisan Nasional coalion that has
formed every government of Malaysia since
Independence in 1957. In Malaysia’s plural
society, polical economic concerns and
ethnic violence in 1969 caused Barisan
Nasional to introduce its New Economic
Policy in 1970. This policy sought to address
ethnic imbalances of income, notably
between the (mostly urban) ethnic Chinese
and the (mostly rural) ethnic Malays. The
Felda smallholder programme preceded this
iniave, but ts well into the policy.
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The Felda scheme for smallholders dovetailed neatly
into Malaysia’s implementaon of the New Economic
Policy (NEP) in 1970, with its twin objecves of
eradicang poverty and the upliing the economic lot
of indigenous communies (Bumiputera). The Felda
schemes had lied about 122,000 families (equivalent
to over one million people), out of poverty and helped
a generaon of landless Malays become a rural middle-
class, with holdings of typically four hectares of oil palm
crops.
Diagram ES.1 shows the impressive growth of oil
palm to just over 35 percent of total cash crops areas
over the key 30 years (1961-1991) of the core Felda
seler emplacement period. Diagram ES.2 illustrates
Felda’s posion within the naonal oil palm context.
It accounted for over 30 percent of total area from
the late 1970s to the late 1980s. It then dropped in
area share as it stopped expanding while others grew
rapidly, notably in Sabah and then Sarawak. Aer Felda
slowed its expansion, Malaysia’s naonal oil palm
area connued to more than double to over 5 million
hectares. Thus, Felda’s share dropped to about 13
percent of the total planted areas by 2014.
Execuve Summary
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1961 19 71 1981 19 91
Harvest ed ar ea, mil lion hect ares
Oil palm Rubber G ra ins Cocoa C oc o nut s Ot her Oi l palm %
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1960 19 77 1982 19 87 1992 19 97 2002 20 07 2012
Oil palm planted, million hectares
Pensinsula Malaysia - oil palm Saba h - oi l pa lm Sarwak oil - palm Felda - oil palm % (est )
Source: FAO (2015).
Diagram ES.2: Felda and Malaysia oil palm hectarage,
1960-2014
Important lessons from the Felda case study are: the
importance of an integrated (regional large-scale)
approach to rural development, the imperave of strong
instuonal support by the state, the partnership of
the government with global agencies, the support of
the local or sub-naonal governmental authories and
eecve cooperaon with the private sector.
We provide below a summary of answers to four key
quesons (see Part 3).
Expectaons in the next decade and broad lessons from
Felda
The Felda project which began as a social enterprise in
1956 as a reselement scheme for landless farmers.
As a social project the Felda project was a high-cost
“premium” programme with the reselement cost per
family rising to over RM50,000 by the me the schemes
were stopped in 1990. Many input costs were borne
by the state, for example land was given free to the
selers and thus the cost of the land and of subsidies
to build and provide social amenies for the selers
was borne by the government. Felda smallholder
areas did not expand aer 1990. The emergence of
the new era of corporasaon within Felda itself has
meant that nancial resources have been invested in
ancillary upstream and downstream operaons rather
than new seler schemes. In the current phase of
ensuring “sustainable” palm producon, such as RSPO
cercaon in seler-operated schemes, Felda selers
are aided by Felda Technoplant, which is supported
by FGV, to deliver sustainable palm oil from its seler
schemes. For FGV’s corporate plantaon expansion, the
Diagram ES.1: Oil palm and Malaysia total crop
hectarage, 1961-1991
Source: MPOB (2015), Bahrin and Lee (1986) and LMC esmates.
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queson remains as to the rao it will adopt of seler
schemes to plantaons. Its public-listed status suggests
that it will behave like other plantaon groups, meeng
the regulaons plus voluntary commitments.
The Felda project is at a stage where the selers’
programme is more than mature, and the impetus of
economic privasaon and globalisaon has resulted in
a major policy shi moving another government-linked
corporaon, FGV, into the internaonal arena. Thus, the
commercial parts of the Felda Group (pre 2010), though
substanvely delinked from the selers, are likely to
connue supporng them. Felda selers are sll likely
to enjoy polical patronage, given their importance as a
large rural vong bloc in Peninsula Malaysia.
It is unlikely that the Felda seler programme will
be replicated in the future in Malaysia and it is
quesonable that other countries or regions would nd
the nancial wherewithal to create such a high-end
model of land reselement. Specialists reckon that a
ve-person family now requires an oil palm plot of 10
hectares to t current needs and aspiraons in rural
Malaysia.
Posive & negave socio-economic outcomes for
stakeholders
From the seler and instuonal perspecves, the
primary goal of Felda, which was poverty eradicaon
and raising incomes by reseling landless farmers,
was a major success. Table ES.1 and Diagram ES.3
demonstrate how Felda oil palm seler incomes have
improved substanally and how primary incomes
uctuate with CPO prices. For other income, the Felda
target is for secondary income of 20-30% as are added
incenves including investment returns from private
equity investment in the KPF (co-owner of Felda
corporaons involved in transportaon, palm oil milling
and other downstream acvies).
1986 1998 2005 2014 Comments
FFB output - est. net income
(with labour cost)
220 2,325 492 1,800 1986-2005, 19 t/ha. FFB; OER 19%;
33% labour cost, FFB price 21% of
CPO price. 2014 from Barlow (2015);
22 t/ha. FFB; FFB price RM500/tonne;
operational charges RM200/tonne
Est. net income ratio 29% 74% 27% 40%
CPO price 579 2,378 1,394 2,384
Target secondary income
(20-30% of primary)
154 737 493 951 Step up from 20% to 30% over time
KPF investment (1,000-7,500
units @14%)
12 29 58 88 Step up 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 to 7,500
units of RM1
Incentives n/a n/a 150 150 Annual incentive RM1,000 in cash, KPF
RM500, Hari Raya contribution RM300
Total estimated monthly income -
all sources
386 3,092 1,193 2,473
Note: In 1986 the net monthly income for 4 ha oil palm plot was RM376; gross income was RM750 (net income plus typical monthly obligaon
amount), for 50% net income margin in year when the CPO price was relavely low. There may have been top-ups and/or loan deferment.
Most selers joining Felda had monthly incomes below RM200 (1979 data for all selers). Malaysia’s minimum monthly wage was RM800
in 2014.
Sources: Monthly seler costs in 1986 from Bahrin and Lee (1986), in 1998 from Bukit Wa Ha scheme in Kota Tinggi, Johor (Wong 2000), in 2005
from Lee and Bahrin (2006, p.43), and 2014 costs and returns from Barlow (2015).
Table ES.1: Esmated monthly income sources for 4 ha oil palm seler (RM)
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Diagram ES.3: Naonal Felda selers’ average net
monthly income, 1979-2004
Note: 4.1 ha Felda seler earns 9.3x CPO price, 4.9 ha holding
earns 9.5x and 5.7 ha holding earns 12.4x CPO price.
Source: Seler smallholding data from Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.37),
Malaysia CPO price from MPOB (2015)
Three key macro themes in Felda seler socio-economic
outcomes are (see Part 3):
• Seler sascing and economic agency
• Felda’s benet to others
• Constrained cercaon
Socio-economic impacts of plantaons and future
expansion
Felda was an integrated rural development
programme backed by a strong polical will and mul-
agency partnerships. Its highly focused policy and
administraon were supported by strong state and
mul-lateral funding to deliver incomes for mostly 4
hectare smallholders of rubber and oil palm, whose
product was desned for export markets. It was a social
enterprise that was designed to be seler-centric.
Since 1990, Felda has been shiing from a social-
enterprise to a corporased model. The FGV stage of
development, features the inial public oering or IPO
of the commercial estates (on long term land lease)
of Felda and its 49% owned downstream processing
assets in 2012 to secure RM4.5 billion for FGV’s
expansion plans (Khor, 2012). It is also apparent from its
plantaon acquisions that FGV operates much like any
other public-listed plantaon company, without stated
goals for achieving higher than regulated smallholder
land development raos. For it to do otherwise, would
(arguably) be surprising given the strictures of market
pressure for quarterly reporng and share market
performance.
0
500
1,00 0
1,50 0
2,00 0
2,50 0
1979 19 84 1989 19 94 1999 20 04
Monthly i ncome, CPO price (RM)
Oil palm , 4.1 ha Oil palm , 4.9 ha
Oil palm , 5.7 ha Nomin al c rude palm oil p rice ( RM, year a vera ge)
Pre-1979, 85% had income sub RM200 pre-settlement
Malaysia has more or less run out of acceptable
greeneld sites for oil palm development and it has
also run out of people keen to work oil palm holdings.
Moreover, Felda selers are ageing and entering a
more economic sascing (instead of maximising) stage
of their economic life-cycle. While the full support of
Felda’s commercial arm may no longer be available
to them, Malaysia federal and state agencies, and
policians of all stripes will sll pay close aenon to
their needs, as they are a rural interest group of large
electoral signicance.
Instuonal features and mechanisms in context of HCS
regulaons
HCS pledges (pung upward pressure on RSPO policy)
aect the areas that can be developed, in order to limit
the problem of deforestaon. There are now at least
three HCS regimes:
• The HCS Approach (April 2015 formalisaon) is
mostly led by Greenpeace-The Forest Trust--Forest
Heroes eortsand supported by the large proces-
sor-trader groups, primarily Wilmaralongside Golden
Agri Resources and Cargill. This has its origins in
2011 with work done for Golden Agri Resources by
TFT and Greenpeace.
• RSPO (a cercaon program) has a de facto HCS
policy via its greenhouse gas emissions migaon
rule in its New Planng Procedure.
• That of the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto3 is led by
a group of key players in the palm oil industry, is due
to report its nding.
• These suggest possible rising compeon between
corporate plantaons and local peoples as they con-
sider how to develop within a smaller geographical
(lower carbon stock) area.
We idenfy three key instuonal issues.
Smallholder cercaon, the need for assistance and
incenves to parcipate in sustainability
It is a plantaon industry consensus that smallholders
and independent producers do not see any direct
nancial return on RSPO cercaon. FGV therefore
supports the RSPO cercaon of selers. However,
its sustainability specialists worry that selers may not
do enough to maintain the cercaon in the face of
inadequate nancial benets. It is notable that there
is some intenon to oer revenues to selers above
FGV’s income from selling RSPO cercates. In a way,
this may point to the necessity of integrated plantaons
3 It is this organisaon which has commissioned this study report.
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paying smallholders a premium as a way of righng
the nancially regressive sustainability system that
has evolved. For instance, WWF et al. (2012; WWF
is a key mover of RSPO) writes that RSPO regulaons
are of more direct benet and lower cost to the
largest corporaons, while small and medium-sized
corporaons and smallholders face fewer direct benets
and higher costs.
Arshad (2015) refers to NGO cosngs of RSPO
cercaon and compliance of over RM400,000 per
2,500 hectare site per year and notes that the current
premia imply mere break-even for such a smallholder
(assuming all cercates are sold under mass balance)
and concludes that there is no incenve to cerfy
without nancial support of a large company. Data from
Arshad shows that the cost of RSPO compliance for the
largest plantaons is around US$5 per tonne of CPO
and that for smallholders works out at about US$12 per
tonne.
Felda’s lessons on corporate farm-smallholder raos and
micro-management
Plantaon experts favour managed cooperaves
operang under strict rules as the best way to apply
smallholder programmes4. This is seen as necessary
for nancial risk management. So long as the loan
comes from a commercial bank and/or is implicitly or
explicitly underwrien by the plantaon company,
these commercial enes will want to be assured of
quality and consistency in planng new plots, as well as
in plantaon operaons.
Under emerging HCS regimes and rising social
issues, large plantaon companies face limitaons on
expansion of their own land areas. They are mulling how
to develop more smallholder areas within their control.
Key consideraons include:
The rao of in to plasma. Some talk of 60:40 being
more workable under current social situaons (more
heightened than in the past). Others favour plantaons
shiing toward a nancing and managing agent
approach where the in:plasma rao may be 20:80
(which creates the problem of retaining FFB suppliers
once the loan has been repaid; Anon. BAH, 2015). In
the Indonesia context, a 20:80 rao was one of the key
Indonesia regulaons before liberalisaon for foreign
and domesc investors reversed the rao to 80:20.
Alternavely, smallholders could be grouped together
under a cooperave. If so, plantaon companies
would like to have broad powers over the cooperave,
including membership of the cooperave board (Anon.
BAH, 2015).
Table ES.2 summarises the data on the costs and
incomes of a typical Felda seler.
Table ES.2: Felda seler costs, income and resourcing
indicators
Cost item /
indicator
Per settler cost
(1990)
RM 50,000 (US$19,230) in 1990;
settler repays ⅔ over 15 years at 6.25%
interest, mainly for cost of 4 ha. oil
palm holding and house. Cost likely to
be double now with 3% per year cost
inflation.
Settler net
income, 4 ha oil
palm plot
25 year cumulative net income, 1979-
2004, was RM 276,948 (average
RM11,078 per year or RM 923 per
month). 2014 total income estimated at
almost RM2,500 (Barlow, 2015b).
Settler gross
versus net
income, 4 ha oil
palm plot
In 1986 (a year of low prices) net
monthly income for a 4 ha oil palm
plot was RM376 (US$145). Gross
income, net income plus typical
monthly obligation amount, was RM750
(US$288), for a 50% net income margin.
Settler cost/
settlement and
for Felda project,
based on 1986
cost
RM 5.0 million (US$1.92 million) per
oil palm settlement and RM6.0 billion
(US$2.3 billion) for 120,000 settler
families.
Cost of land Free; land was alienated from states to
FELDA and not charged to settler.
Cost of basic
infrastructure
and social
amenities
Roads, water supply, public buildings,
etc., may cost 10% of combined project
value or RM 0.67 billion for 120,000
settler families
Number of Felda
staff
Settlements of 300-500 people enjoyed
the services of 25-35 onsite staff, over
a third of whom worked on community
development programmes (Anon. ALR,
2015). The staff-settler household ratio
was reduced from 8.1 in 1980 to 5.1 in
1990 (Lee & Bahrin, p. 26 and p. 189).
Note: The total cost of the Johor Tenggara project was RM209.2
million (US$89.8 million) with Government expenditures for
roads, water supply, and public buildings, such as schools and
health centres set at US$10 million (World Bank, 1974); 1986
exchange rate US$=RM2.60.
4 In Indonesia, “fully managed plasma” refers to where the plantaon company undertakes all development and operaons work. There are diluted versions
from “partly managed plasma” to independent smallholders.
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High Carbon Stock Science Study
The micro management issues are very akin to the
strict development and operaon rules of the Felda
smallholders’ programme, where loan repayment was
an important issue. However, the natural urge for strict
control of plantaon developers and nanciers may not
always suit local seler democrac desires. A signicant
lesson that plantaons developing smallholder schemes
could learn from Felda’s experience is the number of
sta needed to obtain the high level of smallholder
sasfacon that Felda has achieved. Selement sizes
for Felda range from 300 to 500 seler families and on-
site stang was 15-25 sta, over one-third of whom
were involved in community development including
religious aairs (Anon. ALR, 2015).
Felda’s lessons on the need for rural planning and
stakeholder relaons
Felda schemes had in the past encroached on forest
land, comprising both secondary and primary forests,
with some browneld projects to rehabilitate state-
run projects. Contractors, state agencies and the
state governments beneted from mber complexes
associated with its huge regional schemes on the
Peninsula, Jengka Triangle (for which a selement plan
is illustrated in Diagram ES.4) and Johor Tenggara, and
also Sahabat in Sabah. Recently, in many countries,
the queson of who gains from mber rights is
pernent and Felda history may oer an answer to that:
state agencies and governments who transparently
parcipate in mber complexes, can also gain signicant
revenues from these (and then be accountable to spend
this on development and other such eorts). Another
key lesson from Felda’s rural regional land use planning
approach is that it can integrate water catchment
planning (and riparian reserves), forest reserve (with
corridors and fewer small patches), rural towns and
selements and crop area, within its overall spaal
plan (now termed as “landscape level” planning). It is
a salutary lesson for the current concession-based
approach which is inevitably myopic to many of these
important concerns.
Felda’s Sahabat conservaon eorts give a lesson on
the need for government commitment and support for
these iniaves and a role for experienced local NGOs.
The fast tracking of sustainability eorts, with lile real
naonal and state government parcipaon has been
a hallmark of internaonal voluntary standards to-date.
The gap between voluntary policies and enforceable
regulaons sll needs to be bridged, or else there
may be no real improvement: smaller companies and
smallholders may just step in to develop areas that large
RSPO members have to set aside for HCS and HCV
reasons. The corporate-led approach of these voluntary
eorts is a mirror image of Felda’s experience with
naonal and state governments leading socio-economic
planning, where the corporate sector, especially the
processor-trader middle men, were viewed with
suspicion in a rather dierent polical economic era.
Diagram ES.4: Jengka mul-selement, an example of
the Felda approach
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, p.122).
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Conclusions and quesons for further
research
Two issues clearly emerge from this report
that calls for further study and invesgaon.
First, what are the economics of oil palm
culvaon for the corporate / commercial
farmer and for the smallholder under the new
HCS regimes?
Both groups are set to compete for physical
and economic space in the new HCS
threshold, smaller (lower carbon) zone. In
this context, it should be recalled that, unl
1980, Felda contributed approximately half
of the total new oil palm land development
for the whole country (Lee and Bahrin, 2006,
p.11). Before the current liberalised phase,
Indonesia required 80% for smallholders and
oered 20% to corporaons (the situaon is
now reversed).
What rao should be expected for
smallholders within the HCS regimes?
Turning to more micro quesons, within each
region, what is a suitable family income target
and hence what is the appropriate area that
provides a living wage or beer to oer to
the smallest smallholders? Is it, as some now
claim, 10 hectares or more?
This needs to be balanced against the
local populaon numbers. How many local
families can be absorbed into an oil palm
smallholder project and what is the plan
for possible “surplus” families that cannot
be accommodated with a new home and
smallholding? Are the nancial economics and
agronomics of the smallholding appropriate
and suitably benchmarked? What is the
development cost, the loan amount (interest
rate, tenure, payment terms etc.), and
operaonal cost? Do naonal and provincial
regulaons and policies recognise these
issues? How can commercial banks and mul-
lateral lenders play a role in liing the socio-
economic prospects of a poor rural segment?
Given the rising importance of sustainability,
how can cercaon’s nancially regressive
elements (implying a higher relave cost to
small farmers and the risk of reducing their
price bargaining power and market access) be
reformed to be progressively advantageous
for smallholders?
Second, what sort of smallholder cum labour
regime will emerge? In Malaysia’s state-run
smallholder schemes with ageing selers,
migrant labour is widely relied on (as it is also
in the commercial plantaons). Indonesia
and other countries will also increasingly
face the “second generaon” problem as to
who will replace the current smallholders.
There are the many social problems already
now associated with migrant workers to
consider. Further research on smallholders as
an integral part of the oil palm industry must
delve into these issues.
Where these two issues possibly overlap, it
is intriguing to consider the queson posed
by a key interview subject (Anon. BAH,
2015). Should a poor family be given the
lease use of the oil palm smallholding for a
limited period (reecng the oil palm planng
cycle)? Thereaer, another (poorer) young
family can be oered the use benet of the
smallholding.
While this idea may face a tough polical
feasibility test, it hones our focus on the
praccal queson of how to achieve a more
equitable distribuon of the socio-economic
benets of oil palm smallholdings, especially
in the context of new schemes on greeneld
sites.
This study of the Felda programme points to
the core issue, namely the distribuon of the
economic benets between the corporate
farmer, the smallholder, the oil palm eld
worker, and the poor rural folk who lie
outside this circle.
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Part 1: Overview of the Felda Smallholder
Project
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1960 19 77 1982 19 87 1992 19 97 2002 20 07 2012
Oil palm planted, million hectares
Pensinsula Malaysia - oil palm Saba h - oi l pa lm Sarwak oil - palm Felda - oil palm % (est )
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1961 19 71 1981 19 91
Harvest ed ar ea, mil lion hect ares
Oil palm Rubber G ra ins Cocoa C oc o nut s Ot her Oi l palm %
Preamble
The smallholder scheme in Malaysia iniated and
developed by the Federal Land Development Authority
(Felda) is a unique scheme of land reselement bringing
poor Malay families to modern smallholder farming of
agro-industrial crops for export, inially focused on
rubber but now primarily planted with oil palm. From
its incepon in 1956 ll the present me, the scheme
has succeeded in providing some 122,000 households
of landless farmers, poor shermen and some rered
armed forces personnel with land, normally 4.1 hectares
per household.
Diagram 1.1 shows the impressive growth of oil palm
to just over 35 percent of total cash crops areas over
the key 30 years (1961-1991) of the core Felda seler
emplacement period. Diagram 1.2 illustrates Felda’s
very important posion within the naonal oil palm
context. It accounted for over 30 percent of total area
from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. It then dropped
in area share as it stopped expanding while others
grew rapidly, notably in Sabah and then Sarawak. Aer
Felda slowed its expansion, Malaysia’s naonal oil palm
area progressed, more than doubling to over 5 million
hectares. Thus, Felda’s share dropped to about 13
percent of the total planted areas by 2014.
Diagram 1.1: Oil palm and Malaysia total crop
hectarage, 1961-1991
Source: FAO (2015).
Diagram 1.2: Felda and Malaysia oil palm hectarage,
1960-2014
Source: MPOB (2015), Bahrin and Lee (1986) and LMC esmates.
The Felda schemes, with their typically modern
kampung or village homes, have become a key part of
the rural socio-economic landscape of Malaysia and
are esmated to have a populaon of possibly up to
two million people today. Malaysia is the second largest
producer of palm oil today and the Felda smallholdings
and plantaons play no small part in this total.
Supplying their oil palm fruit to Felda Global Ventures
Holdings Berhad (FGV), FGV is the biggest producer
of crude palm oil (CPO) in the world. This study draws
on the exisng literature and on interviews with Felda
informants and key individuals to address research
quesons parcularly the impact on rural socio-
economics of the core concerns of new High Carbon
Stock (HCS) iniaves.
The oil palm economy has been singled out as one
of the causes of large-scale deforestaon and is a
major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
According to the World Bank (2011), more than half of
Indonesia’s oil palm expansion and about half of that
in Malaysia were at the expense of the depleon of
forest cover. The World Wide Fund (WWF) iniated
a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in
2004 to address these concerns and has succeeded,
together with the cooperaon of other pioneers such
as Aarhus, Migros, Malaysian Palm Oil Associaon and
Unilever, to introduce RSPO cercaon; which is
primarily designed for large upstream plantaon groups.
However, as noted by the World Bank:
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While independent cercaon for sustainable
management of oil palm plantaons can be an eecve
way to promote sustainable producon of palm oil, in
pracce, the comprehensive requirements in the RSPO
cercaon scheme are likely to be beyond the capacity
of most smallholders, who thus may be signicantly
disadvantaged (World Bank, 2013, p. 62).5
Awareness of sustainability issues, alongside
environmental concerns, became more noceable
in Malaysia in the 1990s as indicated in the Seventh
Malaysia Plan (1996-2000), which included a secon
on Sustainable Development. Some earlier NGO sector
comments on Malaysian palm oil related issues include,
from the 1980s:
• The polluon caused by palm oil mill euents in the
Juru river (Sungai Juru) in the late 1970s became a
cause célèbre of the Consumer Associaon of Penang
(CAP) and other NGOs such as the Malaysian Nature
Society (MNS) in their campaigns to revive dead
rivers.
• Swiss acvist Bruno Manser highlighted the plight of
a small group of Penans in eastern Sarawak seeking
to retain their tradional nomadic forest lifestyle
amidst pressure by the mber industry and its later
transion to oil palm (Straumann, 2014)
An important research queson of this study is to what
extent the early architects of the Felda schemes took
into consideraon concerns about sustainability and the
environment, including the concern with biodiversity,
natural habitat and the displacement of indigenous
peoples.
Over ve decades, the Felda scheme has succeeded
in raising smallholder household incomes considerably
above the naonal poverty line, prompng some
observers to characterise it as “one of the most
successful land selement organisaons in the
world” (Suon, 1989, p. 339). The Felda scheme
for smallholders dovetailed neatly into Malaysia’s
implementaon of the New Economic Policy (NEP),
starng in 1970, with its twin objecves of eradicang
poverty and upliing the economic lot of indigenous
communies (Bumiputera). Largely through state and
self-funding (including numerous World Bank loans),
Felda was able to sele 122,000 families in the period
from 1959 to 1990, developing about 470,000
hectares (ha) of seler smallholdings and 340,142 ha of
commercial plantaons. It moved poor seler families
to the froners of Pahang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan
(comprising 80 percent of Felda seler areas) and other
Peninsular Malaysia states to work in modern agro-
industrial estates carved out of the jungle.
The plantaons were operated on a commercial basis,
as a key source of funding for Felda selements and
business expansion. According to Ragayah (2013, p.
46) the Felda schemes had lied the equivalent to
one million people, out of poverty by 1990, the end of
the NEP period. Felda, through its scheme, helped a
generaon of landless Malays become a rural middle-
class, with their holdings of oil palm or rubber crops.
When seng up Felda as a federal-level statutory body,
the government moved enabling legislaon in the form
of the Land Development Ordinance (1956) and the
Land Development (Amendment) Ordinance of 1958, to
allow it to alienate land.
Part 1 of this study provides a compressed history of
the genesis of the Felda schemes, what factors drove
its ve stages of development and its key moments
of transion and change. Most signicantly, Felda has
developed from a centralised federal statutory authority
to one where selers now parcipate by way of share
ownership within an expanding and evolving corporate
structure, reaching its current stage of the formaon
of Felda Global Ventures (FGV). This share ownership
by smallholders in a large conglomerate is thought
to be unique to Felda and rarely if at all replicated in
other parts of the developing world. An important key
moment for the Felda schemes no doubt came with
the winding down of its seler emplacements in 1990,
despite its undisputed success as a land reselement
plan for landless farmers. This acon was in part due
to the lack of demand for places (amidst the urban-
industrial economic boom). Thereaer, Felda’s new
thrust was the establishment of plantaons (on the
lands it held but which were not seled) and expanding
its processing facilies, thereby scaling up its presence
as the largest state-funded agribusiness enty of the
country.
Part 2A of the study examines in detail the selers
and their selements, the criteria for seler choices
and where and how they were emplaced. One of the
interesng features of Felda was the selement of
persons from dierent regions and states to newly
alienated land schemes far ung from their places
of origin. This is somewhat like the transmigraon
programme of Indonesia but, arguably, with beer
success in the Felda case, due to its focus on income
outcomes, its “premium” approach to deliver well
developed lands (prepared by contractors), the
calibrated funding of government grants and foreign
loans, and the constant aenon of Felda ocers
to maintenance and management of the schemes.
The income levels of the selers were also regularly
monitored via the 15-year loan scheme for ownership
of land tles (with some top ups in lean years and
money held for replanng). Issues such as secondary
incomes and second generaon outmigraon are
5 See Khor (2013) for a rendering of RSPO and the sustainability discourse, the engagement with companies and governmental responses.
18
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High Carbon Stock Science Study
examined in some detail in this secon, drawing on
the extensively available Bahasa Malaysia literature
on the subject. The secon also discusses the self-
empowerment of selers and their economic agency in
sourcing for themselves beer deals (such as for rubber
replanng), their polical awareness in taking court
acons over such maers as FFB grading and their
lack of nancial interest in sustainability cercaon.
Family size, ageing, second generaon social problems
and other issues aecng the progress of the seler
schemes are also discussed in this secon.
In Part 2B, we examine the instuonal context of
Felda and its development as a corporate enty and
how this would have aected the smallholders. New
dynamics and relaonships invariably developed as
the Felda enty morphed into a massive conglomerate
with a complement of upstream and downstream
acvies, executed by a plethora of subsidiaries, joint
ventures and associate companies. We examine in
some detail the administraon, management, funding
sources, polics and forward and backward economic
linkages of Felda seler acvies, with an eye to their
mulplier eects on the local economy. The secon
reviews how Felda schemes had in the past encroached
on forest land, comprising both secondary and primary
forests, and how contractors, state agencies and the
state governments, may have beneted from mber
complexes associated with its huge regional schemes
in West Malaysia, such as Jengka Triangle and Johor
Tenggara, and also Sahabat in Sabah. By the me of
the establishment of its largest scheme in Sabah, Felda,
with World Bank assistance, had embedded a forest
conservaon scheme within the Sahabat project. The
web of economic linkages and funcons has over me
been handled by the parent company, Felda Holdings
Berhad (FHB). The selers held a majority share of
51 percent (and in theory a controlling hand) in FHB
through their cooperave enty Koperasi Permodalan
Felda (KPF) as shareholders. This situaon has changed
considerably since 2012, when FGV was listed, as
explained more fully in Part 3. Finally, the implicaons
of RSPO cercaon for smallholders are discussed
with its target date for their cercaon lagging
somewhat behind that for plantaons estates (which is
set at 2017). Diagram 1.3 indicates the locaons of the
Felda schemes, commercial plantaons and processing
plants.
In Part 3, we evaluate lessons from Felda’s micro-level
policies and its macro-instuonal aspects with respect
to six key quesons (four major) for the current phase of
oil palm expansion under the strictures of cercaon
and new High Carbon Stock (HCS) regimes. These seek
to limit deforestaon in a period when the compeon
for land is expected to be magnied alongside
heightened social issues, which are compounded by the
higher aspiraons of the industry.
Note: “Rancangan” = schemes, including commercial plantaons;
“Kilang” = factory; “Instolasi” = installaon; “Pejabat Wilayah”
= head oce.
Source: Felda, 2002
Table 1.1: Felda key development stages
1. Financial
assistance
to state land
development
boards (1956-
1961)
Felda distributed funding to
existing land development schemes
administered by state land
development boards in Kelantan,
Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Malacca,
Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Perlis.
In addition, Felda established its
own Bilut Valley Land Development
Corporation (1958).
2. Centralised
Management
(1962-1967)
Felda started managing its own
schemes. Lands were developed
by contractors, with each settler
household typically allocated a 4
hectare lot and received the land
title under a full loan repayment
scheme administered by Felda.
World Bank funding was sourced
for a major regional programme in
Pahang (Jengka Triangle).
3. Package Deal
(1967-1990)
More novel and cooperative Block
System (1970) and Shares System
(1985) were attempted, but Felda
eventually reverted to the more
popular system of individual land
ownership in 1988. Felda diversified
its upstream and downstream
activities. Settlers were given
complementary facilities and social
services as part of the package deal.
Diagram 1.3: Felda locaons in Malaysia - estates, mills
and installaons
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4. Agribusiness
(1991-2012)
With growing labour shortages,
in 1990 Felda had its last settler
intake. Non-settled lands that it had
developed were instead managed
by Felda on a commercial basis.
Felda therefore changed from
being mainly an agency with social
objectives to add a profit-making
palm oil conglomerate.
5. Felda Global
Ventures /
FGV (2012
onward)
Felda’s listed arm FGV is expected
to use its cash-generating asset,
its commercial estates (which also
need replanting), as its key source
of funds for overseas investments
in oil palm estates and downstream
businesses, and in the supply-chains
of other crops, including sugar.
Note: Summarised from Bahrin and Lee (1988) and Lee and Bahrin
(2005) and the addion of the FGV era from 2012.
Development stage 1 - Financial assistance to state land
development boards, and its own new programme for
pioneer farm exporters
With the starng capital of RM10 million, Felda
nanced its rst scheme in Ayer Lanas, Kelantan,
covering an area of 1,620 ha, and its own Felda-
managed scheme in Lurah Bilut, Pahang in 1958 of
1,708 ha with an inial 418 selers.6 By the end of
its third year, Felda had seled some 3,000 pioneer
families in an area of 12,545 ha (Lee and Bahrin, 1988,
p.10). In this inial phase, essenally with only federal
funding, Felda faced dicules ranging from no-
cooperaon from states (land is a state regulated maer
in Malaysia), shortage of sta, lack of good land surveys
and coordinaon issues. Tun Abdul Razak, the then
minister for rural development, who was acknowledged
to be the driving force behind Felda, iniated a Special
Commiee in December 1960 to review and improve
the Felda schemes. In this rst phase of the individual
ownership system, Felda selers held land tles under
a loan payment scheme and were given ownership of
the land once the loan was fully paid up. Typically each
seler and his family were given a 4-hectare plot of
land and a house with garden, situated within a larger
management complex. This system existed unl the
block system was introduced in 1970 (Lee and Bahrin,
2006, p.13).
Tun Abdul Razak, who was from Pahang, became
Prime Minister. It is not surprising that from his
posion leading the Federal Government and from his
relaonships in Pahang, Felda moved early in this state
with success. His son Najib Abdul Razak (the current
Prime Minister) presided over the later evoluon of the
Felda Group, and the de-linking of the Felda selers
and KPF from FGV.
Table 1.2: Felda selers by state of origin, 1967, 1976, 1986
STAT E 1967 mid 1976 1986
Number Percent No Percent No Percent
Johor 3,650 32% 9,350 27% 25,270 25%
Kedah 1,153 10% 3,138 9% 5,180 5%
Kelantan 215 2% 1,792 5% 4,185 4%
Malacca 896 8% 2,150 6% 2,694 3%
N. Sembilan 1,425 12% 4,035 12% 14,326 14%
Pahang 1,013 9% 4,550 13% 24,749 25%
Penang 399 3% 898 3% 959 1%
Perak 941 8% 3,959 11% 9,051 9%
Perlis 54 0% 338 1% 1,241 1%
Sabah - - 198
Selangor 695 6% 2,638 8% 5,671 6%
Terengganu 1,013 9% 2,183 6% 6,889 7%
Not Stated 123 1% - -
TOTAL 11,577 100% 35,031 100% 100,413 100%
Source: Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p.26.
6 Lurah Bilut was among the few schemes with mixed ethnic populaons. The nal number of selers was 616, comprising 404 Malays, 163 Chinese and
49 Indians. The largest number of selers came from Pahang (199) but others hailed from Selangor, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan,
Melaka, Terengganu and Johore, i.e., from all the other states of the Peninsula. (Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p. 203-204).
20
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Table 1.3: Emplacement of Felda selers by state, area and crop, 1987
STAT E No of
Schemes Oil Palm Rubber Cocoa Sugar Cane Total Percent
Johor 64 18,545 7,066 60 - 26,671 24.1
Kedah 10 - 3,143 - - 3,143 2.95
Kelantan 7 2,573 - - - 2,573 2.42
Malacca 5 - 1.328 - - 1,328 1.25
N. Sembilan 48 2,236 14,298 - - 16,534 15.52
Pahang 109 32,471 9,264 - - 41,735 39.18
Penang - - - - - - -
Perak 16 2,420 2,939 - - 5,359 5.03
Perlis 3 - 444 - 447 891 0.84
Sabah 3 322 - - - 322 0.3
Selangor 4 1,220 940 - - 2,160 2.03
Terengganu 20 5,488 1,306 - - 6,794 6.38
TOTAL 289 65,275 40,728 60 447 106,510 6.38
PERCENT 61.29 38.24 0.06 0.41 100
Source: Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p.26.
Development stage 2 - Felda pre-eminence and centralised
management
Tun Razak decided in 1962 to focus on a regional
approach to Felda’s development and this gave rise to
the Jengka Triangle project in Pahang with World Bank
funding of RM32 million dispensed in three tranches in
1968, 1970 and 1975 (World Bank, 1987). By the end
of the rst Malaysia Plan (1970), Felda had established
itself as the country’s foremost land developer and its
success connued to propel targets in the Second and
Third Malaysia Plans (1971-1980), at the end of which
202,347 ha were to be developed. This constuted
about 50% of the total land development for the enre
country (Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p.11).
Organisaonally, the second phase saw the expansion
of Felda into a centralised system of management. By
end of the First Malaysia Plan, its sta had increase
from 826 in 1966 to 2,240 in 1970. Most importantly,
in 1967, a major re-organisaon took place with the
introducon of a markeng division, thus providing
the basis for its transion into the third phase of
Felda history. With the onset of the massive Jengka
Triangle Project, Felda in 1968 introduced a measure of
decentralisaon, seng up the Jengka Division under
an Execuve Director as required by the UNDP as one
of its condions for supporng the iniave.
Development stage 3 - Novel systems revert to individual
land ownership, a “package deal” of smallholding with
house plus social services
In this phase, the Block System was introduced, in
large part because of the shi to oil palm culvaon
which required more collecve responsibility than
rubber planng (and less labour). Under this system,
selers were organised into groups of about 20
selers with roughly 80 hectares of oil palm termed
a ‘block’ headed by the block leader. Each seler was
responsible for delivering the FFB to the mill and the
block sales of FFB would be equally distributed among
the members. Lee and Bahrin (2006) note that this
system was far from perfect and by 1985, a Share
System was introduced whereby each seler owned
10 units of shares equivalent to 10 acres (about 4.5
ha) and were expected to work for xed wages over a
20-acre working area. Some 81 schemes with 13,234
selers came under this scheme but aer ve years
it was also dismantled because of negave feedback
from the selers. Ng and Ng (1991, p. 91) contend
that the share system contradicted the very objecves
of creang a self-reliant rural community, by turning
selers into “labourers”. Salleh (1991) also argues that
Felda eecvely became a mode of “state capitalism”,
keeping selers in debt and exploing them inially of a
sort of corvée labour and later as wage labour.7
7 See Salleh (1991, p. 330 and passim). It is dicult to argue that the Felda selers were unduly exploited since the bad debts wrien o by Felda were rather
substanal; RM156.6m (1975); RM33.5m (1990); RM31.1m (1993) and 90.5m (2000) (Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p.43).
21
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However, as noted by Lee and Bahrin, changes to the
schemes were due in great part to the demands of
the selers themselves, spurred by their policisaon:
“wherever expedient, the selers could appeal to the
policians, who are parcularly sensive to grassroots
support from their Felda constuencies.” (Lee and
Bahrin, 2006, p.15). In this third phase, the so-called
“package deal” approach, selers were accorded not
just housing but also a plethora of social services.
A typical Felda complex or “village” could have the
following facilies: Felda eld oce, community
centre, health clinic, public library, women’s instute,
cooperave shop, government services, youth club,
young farmers’ club, place of worship (mosque) and
public playground (Lee and Bahrin, 1988, p. 119).
In phase 3, Felda expanded to Sabah and Sarawak
in East Malaysia. Felda tried to take its acvies to
Sarawak in 1986, to Sempadi in the Lundu District
with six schemes covering an area of 7,857 ha
but, owing to the poor response, partly due to the
lukewarm recepon of the Sarawak government and
the lack of selers, the schemes were converted to
commercial plantaons worked by Indonesian labour
(Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p.12). The Sahabat and Umas
schemes in Sabah, aided by World Bank funding of
US$71.5 million, were far more successful but they
were mostly commercial estates with the plantaon
mode of producon. The schemes are among the
largest plantaons created by Felda in the Dent
Peninsula, in an area twice the size of Singapore. Felda
commercial estates constute 98% of its projects in
Sabah. Eventually, Felda only managed to persuade
874 selers in Sabah to occupy a mere 5,610 ha
of land, although the original plan called for 8,600
selers in 13 selements. A number of reasons, such
as the low awareness of Felda in Sabah and also the
perceived unaracve locaon of the schemes in the
Dent Peninsula, led to the low response. Sabah’s labour
shortage situaon also led to the Felda plantaons
being serviced to the tune of 95% by Indonesian
workers (Lee and Bahrin, 2006, pp. 210-216).
Table 1.4: Monthly seler obligaons for 4 ha rubber
plot and 4 ha oil palm plot, 1986
4 hectare
rubber plot
RM 4 hectare oil palm plot RM
Fixed loan
amount
217.68 Fixed loan amount 163.67
Consolidated
annual
charges
(land rent,
premium,
etc)
8.81 Consolidated annual
charges (land rent,
premium, etc)
9.92
Operating
costs
38 Operating costs 110
Agricultural
Insurance
40 Agricultural Insurance 40
Replanting reserve 40
Reserve for
maintenance of
agricultural roads
10
Total 304.49 Total 373.59
Development stage 4 - Last selers emplaced in 1990, the
development of commercial estates and the growth of an
agribusiness group
The agribusiness phase of Felda has received
considerable aenon from scholars (Suon and Buang,
1995; Fold, 2000; Ahmad Fauzi, 2000). Felda saw its
last intake of selers in 1990. At this point of Felda’s
expansion in 1990, the statutory body had a total of
25,308 employees, which included 15,861 sta in Felda
corporaons (Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p,189).
In 1991, coinciding with the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-
1995), an amendment to the
Land Development Ordinance (1965) enabled Felda
to create its own companies under the Companies Act
1965. By 1995, Felda raonalised all its businesses
under the wing of its parent company, Felda Holdings
Sdn Bhd. By 2005, Felda had 26 subsidiaries, 9 joint
ventures and 10 associated companies, with total
investments of RM868.12 million (Lee and Bahrin,
2006, p. 17). Felda businesses comprised the gamut of
milling and processing, bulking, transportaon, shipping,
engineering, properes, construcon, security, animal
rearing, resorts and catering.
22
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This change dovetailed into Malaysia’s privasaon
drive in the 1990s under the Mahathir government.
Selers were given 51% of the Felda shares at this
stage, with the parent Felda company owning the
remainder. Selers held their shares through their own
cooperave, the Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF) (Fold
2000, p. 480 and Lee and Bahrin, 2006, p.149). In
this manner, Felda was able to eschew the sort of full-
blown privasaon undertaken in the cases of Tenaga
Nasional Berhad (Malaysia’s primary power supplier)
and of Telekom Malaysia (main telecommunicaons
company). The KPF had become highly successful,
oering dividends averaging 14% each year over 30
years. Dividends and bonuses uctuated somewhat, for
example dividends were 20% in 2001 and 15% in 2004,
in which year Felda Holdings reported an annual income
of RM42.1 million, but a pre-tax loss of RM18.9 million.
Development stage 5 – Public lisng of Felda Global
Ventures
The public lisng of Felda Global Ventures Holdings
(FGV) in 2012 raised Felda’s global prole as the third
largest producer in the palm oil industry (aer Sime
Darby, which owns operaons in Malaysia, Indonesia
and new areas in Liberia, and Golden-Agri Resources,
operang in Indonesia and with new areas in Liberia
too). The lisng of FGV with an IPO of 2.19 billion
shares was completed on 28 June 2012. Felda selers
received an instant cash bonus of RM15,000 each and
also became minor shareholders in FGV (800 shares
per seler). FGV is now the largest producer of CPO
with operaons mostly in Malaysia, but also in ten
countries (for its palm oil supply chain as well as other
agro-industrial processing). The globalisaon of Felda
has reduced its original Felda smallholders’ role in the
newly structured conglomerate.8 In a real sense, the
launching of the FGV marks the end of Felda’s original
mission as a socio-economic project to support landless
farmers. The signicance of the emergence of FGV and
the impact of sustainability concerns are evaluated in
Part 2B of this report.
There is limited discussion of Felda funding sources
and use of funds in academic literature. From primary
data we note that, by the 1999 nancial year (aer the
build-up of seler and commercial estates and before
the major replanng phase), Felda had spent RM8.9
billion on land development and selements, nanced
by RM4.9 billion (54.8%) of loans with the rest (45.2%)
grants. By 1999, Felda had repaid RM3.2 billion of
principal and RM1.4 billion as loan interest. World
Bank loans stood at RM542.8 million at nancial year
ended (FYE) 1999. Other sizeable loans were from the
Saudi and Kuwait Funds (RM119.0 and 56.8 million,
respecvely), the Overseas Economics Cooperaon
Fund and the Asian Development Bank. Nearly all loans
were through the Federal Government (Felda, Annual
Report FYE 1999).
Table 1.5: Sources of Felda funding, 1990-2004 (RM
million)
Federal
government
Replanting
grants
& other
funds
World
Bank,
Saudi
Fund
Total
1990 387.3 11.6 96.3 495.2
1991 281.6 13.3 62.5 357.4
1992 344.0 3.1 16.6 363.7
1993 229.9 20.4 23.0 273.3
1994 233.2 24.8 0.0 258.0
1995 202.2 21.6 0.0 223.8
1996 169.3 18.9 0.0 188.2
1997 171.3 22.3 0.0 193.6
1998 137.2 11.7 0.0 148.9
1999 27.0 6.3 0.0 33.3
2000 1.3 10.8 0.0 12.1
2001 27.4 22.3 0.0 49.7
2002 54.3 36.1 0.0 90.4
2003 22.6 134.5 0.0 157.1
2004 30.6 130.2 0.0 160.8
Post
settler,
1991
-2004
1,931.9 476.3 102.1 2,510.3
Source: Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p. 196
From the 1950s to 1970s, funding came mostly
from the Federal Government, the World Bank and
Commonwealth Development Corporaon. From the
1970s unl 1987, Felda again received funding from
the World Bank, with eight loans totalling US$232.1
million to nance land development and seler projects.
From 1990-2004, approximately RM3 billion was spent.
The sources of nance were the Federal Government,
the World Bank and Saudi Fund (RM2.5 billion for
the post-seler period to 2004).9 As foreign loan
8 FGV has suggested that selers are sll well represented in the global company through Felda Holdings Berhad (FHB) 49 % of which is owned by FGV.
Selers also own 49% of FHB but have no representaon on the FGV board. [FAQs on the Lisng of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV, 2012) and
Anon. ZAZ, 2015].
9 According to Ragayah (2013, p. 47), Felda had borrowed a total of RM4.96 billion from the Government, the World Bank, Kuwai and Saudi funds, which
was fully repaid by 2000, 14 years before the end-date.
23
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
disbursement diminished, the Government provided
90% of the expenditure in this laer period (Lee &
Bahrin, 2006, p. 196). A breakdown of the sources
of funding is listed in Table 1.5. This does not include
the use of internal sources of funds (such as from
protable Felda commercial businesses or investment
by categories, including: selers, commercial estates,
ancillary and downstream acvies. A detailed review
is beyond the scope of this project, but could be the
subject of future study.
Felda case studies – Jengka in Pahang, Johor Tenggara,
Sahabat in Sabah
(i) The Jengka Triangle Projects since 1968 - 198210
The largest and most ambious seler schemes of
Felda were undoubtedly the Jengka Triangle projects in
Pahang, iniated in the late 1960s. The three projects,
with the aid of World Bank funding (including loans
in 1968, 1970 and 1975), involved the clearing of
about 40,000 ha of jungle, the planng of 26,000 ha
of oil palm and 13,800 ha of rubber, the construcon
or expansion of 4 palm oil mills, the construcon of
roads, villages and related social infrastructure and the
selement of about 9,200 smallholder families.
The World Bank’s Impact Evaluaon Report (1987)
found that planng targets were exceeded and despite
cost overruns, the economic rates of return were
sasfactory, mostly because CPO prices were higher
than projected. The evaluaon found that selers’
incomes were 300-350% above the rural poverty level
and signicantly higher for oil palm selers than for
rubber selers. Although women play a major role in
agricultural acvies, for rubber in parcular, overall
women’s rights were not fully recognised. The negave
impact on the environment was considered less severe
than expected; soil erosion due to land clearing was
minimal; all palm oil mills were equipped with ecient
treatment plants; there was no indicaon that climac
change has resulted from the development of Jengka.
The clearing of forest land, however, had a considerable
eect in terms of reducon of wildlife populaons, as
protecon measures now used in some countries were
not known when the projects were implemented.
“Felda has grown into one of the most successful
land organisaons in the world, combining the
eciency of the private sector with the public service
of a government agency” (World Bank, 1987, p.
viii). However the Bank suggested that the Felda
management style needed to evolve into a seler
self-management system. Among the lessons drawn
from the Jengka projects were that: a high value crop
and a sound technical package were essenal to
provide sucient nancial returns; selers’ discipline
was essenal in the early selement period for
eventual project success; combining improved social
infrastructure with some aspects of the tradional
village system was an important factor in aracng
and retaining selers; it was almost impossible to nd
new job opportunies in a rural context for the second
generaon, as integrated rural-urban development is
dicult to achieve and me-consuming; and, selement
projects have more chance of success if they are
executed by strong autonomous agencies with a clearly
idened plan and strategy, with full governmental
support.
Although the World Bank evaluaon of the Jengka
Triangle was largely posive, a crique of the projects
was that the Bank itself had no environmental policy at
the me of the Jengka projects. Kathirithamby-Wells
(2005, p. 272) has suggested that scheme “displayed all
the symptoms of environmental degradaon that came
to be associated with Malaysia’s rural development,
such as ooding, water, soil erosion and the loss of
good arable land.” As noted above, the Bank’s own
assessment of the environmental impact at the end of
the loan period in 1987 was that it was minimal, but
its more detailed assessment seems to show areas
for improvement. In parcular, the displacement of
indigenous Orang Asli11 and wildlife was signicant.
Kathirithamby-Wells’ statement about Malaysian
agricultural projects such as the Jengka Triangle
schemes was that they lacked a holisc approach
and that overall agricultural development aided by
internaonal agencies has tended in the past to
give scant aenon to the conservaon of forests:
“Eecvely, this meant that lowland forests would make
way for development, relegang forestry to the hills”
(Ibid, p. 272). The cricism has to be juxtaposed with
the master plans for Jengka where forest reserve areas
are demarcated (see Diagram 2A.3) and Felda policy not
to encroach on nave Orang Asli reserve land. Other
cricisms of the Felda schemes were that polical
criteria were used in the selecon of selers, that there
were undue delays in obtaining land tles and that the
benets of poverty eradicaon were not commensurate
with its high cost (Ragayah, 2013, p. 45).
10 We take 1982 to be the end of the Jengka project as this was the last audit date of the World Bank.
11 Anon. ALR, 2015 states that Orang Asli reserve areas were not developed, but some who lived outside these reserves would have been aected. While
Felda oered to develop some Orang Asli reserve land, the agency in charge of Orang Asli aairs had other development project plans for this group.
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(ii) The Johor Tenggara Schemes, 1974-198212
Johor was the state with the second largest number of
Felda schemes, aer Pahang. By the me Felda stopped
its seler scheme expansion post-1990, Johor had a total
of 82 schemes occupying 120,716 ha of oil palm, 24,692
ha in rubber and 356 ha in other crops, covering a total
of 145,408 ha. The seler estates occupied the bulk of
Johor schemes leaving 18.1% for plantaons. There were
74 seler schemes in all with a total of 28,138 families
involved, 22,139 of whom were culvang palm oil
(Suon and Buang, 1995, p.130-132).
One of largest regional schemes carried out in Johor
with World Bank funding was Felda’s Johor Tenggara
project, a component of the 1971 Master Plan by
Hunng Technical Services for the development of
37, 231 ha of the “rain forest” covering a gross area
of 303,514 ha in two adjoining territories of the
Johor state, Johor Tengah and Tanjong Penggerang.
The Master Plan was a joint development project of
the state and Federal governments. The two regions
converge in the small town of Kota Tinggi, 30 miles
north of Johor Bahru, the state capital (Hunng
Technical Services, 1971, p.5 and World Bank, 1974,
Annex 7). Interesngly, the Master Plan called not just
for the clearing of land for agriculture, seng up a dairy
farm and a tourist complex, but was also to establish
“an integrated mber complex” to obtain maximum
value from 28,733 ha of lowland forest to be cleared
for agriculture and 8,498 ha cleared for reservoir
catchments. The logging programme was to start in
1974 and connue ll 1989 at an annual rate of 2,428
ha. The was also to be a conservaon angle to the plan
in that all land above the 20o gradient was not to be
cleared as well as the catchment area for water and land
“containing biological communies of special interest”
(Ibid, p.6).13
Felda’s role in the Master Plan involved the
selement of 4,400 families, clearing 32,779 ha of
land and planng 26,304 ha of oil palms, along with
infrastructure development and the construcon of
housing. The total cost of the project was RM209.2
million (US$89.8 million) with Government expenditures
for roads, water supply, and public buildings, such as
schools and health centres, set at US$10 million (World
Bank, 1974).14
(iii) The Sahabat schemes in Sabah, 1980-199715
The largest Felda schemes are to be found in the Dent
Peninsula of Sabah. Felda’s long-term plans for Sabah
included the agricultural development of about 90,000
ha of primarily oil palm, and selement of a maximum
of 12,700 families in the Sahabat selement complex
located at the eastern extremity of the peninsula. A
World Bank loan of US$71.5 million would fund close
to 35% of the project. Implementaon started in 1980;
by end-1988, development of about 65% of this area
was underway. Agricultural producon had started, but
harvesng and fruit transport from eld to processing
facilies was then seriously hampered by an almost
total lack of agricultural roads and an incomplete access
road network.
Unlike the Jengka projects, an Environmental
Management Plan (EMP) was introduced in the Dent
Peninsula. Adjacent to the Sahabat agricultural area,
are the Tabin (TWR) (120,500ha) and Kulamba (KWR)
(20,700ha) Wildlife Reserves which, together with
other neighbouring forest reserves, are the habitat
for breeding populaons of endangered Sumatran
rhinoceros and Asian elephants, and are the only two
areas gazeed as wildlife reserves in Sabah.
Agricultural development targets were achieved;
about 65,000 ha were planted by 1993, compared
to the target of 61,000 ha at appraisal. However, the
project’s social objecve of rural poverty alleviaon was
poorly implemented; only 925 selers were emplaced,
compared to target of 3,560 expected at appraisal.
About 90% of the Sahabat area was managed by Felda
as a commercial plantaon, using foreign labour and
hired Sabahan workers.
The project’s main benets were increased producon
and exports of palm oil and kernels and improved
environmental management in Sabah. Total producon
of FFB in schemes 1 to 35 in 1994 was esmated at
884,000 tonnes (yielding 185,650 tonnes of CPO and
31,000 tonnes of palm kernels). With the high palm oil
prices prevailing in 1994, net monthly seler incomes in
Sahabat schemes averaged RM1,450 (US$580), which
is higher than the appraisal esmate of RM1,320 for
1994 (RM1,035 in 1988 constant terms).
The economic rate of return (ERR) of the project at
compleon was esmated at 7%. The ERR was lower
than that at appraisal (25%), principally due to a steep
decline in forecast palm oil prices since the incepon
of the project: the Bank’s forecast prices in 2000 and
12 1982 saw the nal disbursement of the World Bank Felda loan. The overall goals of Master Plan, including roads, bridges, water resources, posts and
telecommunicaons, were to be achieved in 1971-1990.
13 About two-thirds of the gross area of Johor Tenggara is covered by primary and secondary forests, while one-third has been exploited or logged. Most forest
in Tanjong Penggerang and nearly two-thirds in Johor Tengah in 1971 were “undisturbed” and thus “exploitable”, under the plan (Hunng Services, 1971, p.9).
14 We have been unable to nd specic evaluave literature on the outcomes of the Johor Tenggara schemes.
15 1997 is the year when planng in the last few Sahabat schemes was completed (Suon, 2001, p. 101).
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Summary
• Felda’s unique smallholder programme had
its beginnings in the reseling of the landless
poor. Over me the programme evolved to
become a huge land reselement project
with major regional land schemes of which
this secon has presented three case studies,
the Jengka Triangle Project, Johor Tenggara
and the Sabahat scheme.
• There is lile denying that these schemes
have been major economic successes for
the Malaysia developmental state. However,
the increasing scarcity of land, and lack of
potenal selers (the agriculture sector was
less favoured as the economy boomed) have
meant that the development of plantaons
rather than seler programmes (as shown in
Sahabat) has been the order of the day since
the 1990s.
• Migrant labour rather than local selers
now occupy the Felda plantaon estates.
Alongside this transion, Felda’s ve
development stages have brought it to the
global level with the establishment of FGV
which is now Malaysia’s largest producer of
CPO.
• Some may argue that seler-smallholders,
who were the erstwhile central feature of
Felda, have become a modest component
of the global conglomerate that FGV has
become. This said, however, the selers’
parcipaon in KPF, which sll holds shares
in FGV and other Felda corporates, may
promise the longevity of a relaonship (even
if these links have been formally weakened).
• How the Felda seler-FGV relaonship will
evolve is hard to tell, but it is interesng
to hear of above market prices being paid
to Felda selers for their FFB (conjecture)
as well as for their RSPO sustainability
cercates (as indicated by Norazam, 2015).
While our checks with analysts nd that
they are not aware of any guarantee price, in
2014 average prices were close to RM2,400
CPO tonne equivalent (which corresponds
with Malaysia prices reported by MPOB). In
addion, at the me of the FGV IPO, FGV
made de facto price guarantees to Felda in
terms of minimum lease rental payments of
RM250 million plus 15 percent of operang
prot of estates (the RM 250 million is a sort
of guarantee).
• In a real sense, the lisng of FGV (and the
related corporate acons at the end of 2013
to buy key assets from the KPF) marks the
end of Felda’s original mission as a socio-
economic project.
• Ironically, the original Felda project has
become a vicm of its own success. The
aracons of employment away from seler
schemes, globalisaon, neo-liberal economics
and compeon, the demands of RSPO
cercaon and the internal dynamics of
the oil palm industry, all colluded to bring
about the end of this grand project of seler
development.
• In Part 2A we will examine key features of
the (micro) socio-economics of the typical
Felda seler and the associated selement.
• In Part 2B, we examine the instuonal
context of Felda’s evoluon and touch on the
implicaons of the establishment of FGV and
the new sustainability-driven era.
2005 (in 1994 real terms) were 27% and 35% lower
than the price assumed at appraisal. Other reasons
included lower than expected yields of oil palm. If the
prices forecast at appraisal had emerged, the ERR at
compleon would have been about 21% (World Bank,
1995, pp. 14-15).
Overall, the instuonal stability of the Sahabat
Complex has been proven with me (Lee & Bahrin,
2006, pp. 210-224) but important lessons learnt from
the project include the following:
a) Employment of local NGOs, with proven track
records and acceptable to government ocials,
is the ideal way to prepare and implement
environmental projects;
b) Adequate environmental safeguards should be
ensured in land development operaons and the
clearing of calcareous forests and swamps in the
eastern part of Sahabat should have been avoided;
c) Seler emplacement problems should not have
been underesmated; and
d) A well-prepared environmental management plan
with adequate government commitment and
technical support can have a signicant posive
impact (World Bank, 1995, pp. v-vi).
26
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Synopsis
The seler programme of Felda saw people moved from
dierent regions and states to newly alienated land
schemes far ung from their place of origin. Felda was
careful to choose those with an agricultural background.
However, Felda also selected candidates with skills such
as tailoring and carpentry to cater to the needs of the
schemes to create semi-urban towns in the schemes. A
signicant proporon of selers were ex-servicemen.
All states of the Peninsula and Sabah saw schemes,
with Johor and Pahang aracng the largest numbers.
The main task of Felda was to raise seler incomes and
maintain them well above subsistence levels.
In this secon we demonstrate that, by the mid-1980s,
Felda schemes assured selers of a monthly income
well above the policy target of RM300. The average
monthly net income was RM721 from a 4 hectare oil
palm plot (excluding labour costs), but concomitantly
the cost of emplacing an oil palm seler had risen to
almost RM50,000. When loan repayments became
unaordable, bad debts were wrien o to the tune of
RM311 million. Secondary sources of selers’ income
were prevalent and strongly encouraged by Felda, which
introduced selers to entrepreneurial projects. The
secon also discusses the economic agency of selers
in securing sub-contracts such as for rubber replanng.
Many issues aecng the selers are discussed here,
ranging from inheritance maers, family size, ageing,
out-migraon of the second generaon and social ills
(e.g. drug addicon and gangsterism). The growing use
of Indonesian migrant labour most clearly marks the
maturing stage of the seler schemes.
The Felda seler
Seler origins
One of the most important selecon criteria for selers
was an agricultural background. Thus, Bahrin and
Lee (1988, p.77) note that in 1983 18.9% of selers
had been paddy planters, 13.6% had been rubber
smallholders, 2.2% had been coconut smallholders,
7.4% had been shermen, 4.5% had been estate
workers, 23.2% had been agricultural workers, and
30.2% worked in other professions (the majority of
whom were ex-servicemen). It is of some note that
Felda also tried to select a range of selers from
praccally all the states of Peninsular Malaysia, although
Pahang and Johor took the lion’s share.
The following two tables summarises data on seler
origins by state from 1967-1986, and the crop they
farmed as a seler, and also the state where they were
emplaced by 1987.
Part 2A: The Felda Seler and Selements
Table 2A.1: Felda Selers by State of Origin, 1967, 1976, 1986
STAT E mid 1967 mid 1976 1986
No Percent No Percent No Percent
Johor 3,650 31.5 9,350 26.7 25,270 25.2
Kedah 1,153 10 3,138 9 5,180 5.2
Kelantan 215 1.7 1,792 5.1 4,185 4.2
Malacca 896 7.7 2,150 6.1 2,694 2.7
N. Sembilan 1,425 12.3 4,035 11.5 14,326 14.3
Pahang 1,013 8.8 4,550 13 24,749 24.6
Penang 399 3.5 898 2.6 959 0.9
Perak 941 8.1 3,959 11.3 9,051 9
Perlis 54 0.5 338 1 1,241 1.2
Sabah - - - - 198 0.2
Selangor 695 6 2,638 7.5 5,671 5.6
Terengganu 1,013 8.8 2,183 6.2 6,889 6.9
Not Stated 123 1.1 ----
TOTAL 11,577 100 35,031 100 100,413 100
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, p.82).
27
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The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2A.2: Emplacement of Felda Selers by State, 1987
STAT E No of
Schemes
Oil Palm Rubber Cocoa Sugar Cane Total Percent
Johor 64 18,545 7,066 60 - 26,671 24.1
Kedah 10 - 3,143 - - 3,143 2.95
Kelantan 7 2,573 - - - 2,573 2.42
Malacca 5 - 1,328 - - 1,328 1.25
N. Sembilan 48 2,236 14,298 - - 16,534 15.52
Pahang 109 32,471 9,264 - - 41,735 39.18
Penang - - - - - - -
Perak 16 2,420 2,939 - - 5,359 5.03
Perlis 3 - 444 - 447 891 0.84
Sabah 3 322 - - - 322 0.3
Selangor 4 1,220 940 - - 2,160 2.03
Terengganu 20 5,488 1,306 - - 6,794 6.38
TOTAL 289 65,275 40,728 60 447 106,510 6.38
PERCENT 61.29 38.24 0.06 0.41 100
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, p.82).
Felda seler main income, costs and preferenal loans
(original planng and replanng), grants and transfers
According to Bahrin and Lee (1988, p. 88), Felda’s goal
was to give selers a monthly income of RM300-500,
but this could only be achieved once the crops had
matured. Prior to 1962, selers entering the scheme
would receive a monthly subsistence allowance of
RM50-70 depending on family size (Ibid, p. 89). This
was meant to de the families over while the crops
were maturing. However, in October 1962 this was
amended to a daily rate of RM2.90 for an adult male,
RM2.40 for an adult female, and RM1.80 for children
below 18 years for every day worked in the scheme.
This was to overcome selers’ percepon that they
were entled to their monthly subsistence allowance,
no maer how many (or few) days they worked on the
schemes. However, Felda did provide selers unable
to work due to illness or incessant rain a direct loan of
up to RM50. Under this system, a family where both
husband and wife worked were able to earn RM90-100
per month while they awaited their crop (Ibid, p.89).
Table 2A.3: Daily rates for Felda selers
Year Daily Rate (RM) Income per month (RM)
1962 3 90-100
1973 3.5 84
1975 4 100
1981 6 125-150
1984 8 192-208
Note: This daily rate refers to the subsistence allowance provided to
selers between the me of entry and the maturity of crops.
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, p. 90).
Selers faced uctuang incomes even aer the
crops matured. The type of crop, the year of maturity,
and of course commodity prices determined their
incomes. Felda tried two dierent methods to migate
uctuang incomes. The rst, according to Bahrin and
Lee (1988), was the 1980 Income Stabilisaon Scheme
introduced in the oil palm schemes of Sungai Tengi, Ulu
Tebrau, Sungai Kemahal, and Jengka 2 on a trial basis.
A forecast for the year would be made, and then a
xed 12-month income would be drawn up. If selers’
net income exceeded the xed amount, the excess
was saved, to be used in months when net income fell
below the xed amount. However, this was unpopular
with selers and ended in 1981 (Ibid, pp.91-92).
Later, a Minimum Income Scheme was introduced in
schemes under the Block System where selers were
assured of RM150 a month minimum income for the
rst year of entering the scheme, irrespecve of the
size of their lots. During the second and subsequent
years, the minimum was RM200 for lots of 3.3 to 4.0
ha, and RM250 for 5.7 ha. In 1984, this was increased
to RM350, but was then decreased to RM300 in 1986.
Under this scheme Felda topped up the selers’ income
when it was below the minimum, eventually this “top
up” would be recovered when the selers’ incomes
exceeded the minimum (Ibid, p.92).
When moving into the schemes, the selers
incurred the cost of building their houses, as well as
development costs for their individual holdings and
eventual repayment of the subsistence allowance.
According to Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.41), the average
cost of reseling a family in an oil palm smallholding in
1976 was RM26,600. It rose to RM49,760 in 1986 (a
breakdown is in the table below). By the me of the last
intake of selers in 1990 the cost was RM 51,241.
28
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High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2A.4: Cost of reseling one family, 1976 and 1986 (RM)
1976 1976 1986 1986 1986
Oil Palm Rubber Oil Palm Rubber Cocoa
Infrastructure development * 5,200 5,500 12,302 12,302 12,302
Management & administration * 3,700 4,200 5,062 6,122 7,196
Agricultural development (4 ha) 15,500 14,800 28,966 27,856 53,633
Settler’s house & house plot 2,200 2,200 3,400 3,400 3,400
TOTAL 26,600 26,400 49,760 48,680 76,531
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988; p. 93)
* Not borne by selers. Seler loan only included agricultural development of 4 ha smallholding and cost of house and house lot.
By 1986, Felda had 100,413 selers. If the average
cost of reseling one family was RM 50,000; then Felda
would have spent about RM 5 billion on reselement in
1986 Ringgit cost terms.
Originally, according to Bahrin and Lee (1988, p.
92) seler loans were meant to repay the cost of
the scheme’s development, development costs of
agricultural holdings and infrastructure. The loan
was to be repaid within 15 years at 6.25% (below
market) interest. However, in 1960 the Minister of
Rural Development appointed a Special Commiee
to look into seler loan repayment, as the original
seler obligaon was too high. The Special Commiee
concluded that selers should only have to repay the
“subsistence allowance, cost of their houses and the
direct cost for developing their individual holdings,
and the accrued interest therein” (ibid). Accordingly,
the inial loan amount was about two-thirds of the
development cost.
Because of uctuang commodity prices and the
dicules selers faced in repayment, the loan scheme
was revised many mes and a complex repayment
schedule was worked out for rubber and oil palm
selers. Oil palm selers were less problemac as the
recovery rate was high; by the 1980s it was almost
100%. Even with this ne tuning, loan repayment
depended heavily on seler gross income, which in turn
depended on commodity prices. If a seler’s income
dips below the assured monthly net income, then loan
deducons were deferred. There have been several
years, as in 1986, when low commodity prices caused
low loan repayments (Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.42).
Felda also wrote o bad debts so that selers can be
awarded their land tles. According to Bahrin and Lee
(ibid), the total of seler debts wrien o by Felda was
RM 311.7 million. Bahrin and Lee put a favourable gloss
on Felda’s control of loans, nong that it was “important
and grafying to the implemenng agency that it
has successfully completed the whole reselement
process…and equally signicant that selers have
fullled all their obligaons.” By 1987, aer 21 years, a
total of 15,984 selers had fully discharged their loan
obligaons (Bahrin and Lee, 1988, p. 98).
The average monthly seler income me-series data
available in the ocial literature (the Bahrin and Lee
(1988) and Lee and Bahrin (2004) texts) represent
net income rather than gross income. The only years
in which gross income can be esmated are for 1986
(possibly a top up year given the low CPO price), 1998,
2005 and 2014.
The tables below describe the esmated monthly
income (by source) with data net of “typical monthly
seler obligaons” and excluding other, non-agricultural
incomes. The data in the tables come from Lee and
Bahrin (2006) as the only truly naonal Felda data.
Wong (2000) and Barlow (2015b) are sources for
parcular selements (and thus are only indicave). We
also incorporate esmates of secondary income (where
some survey data suggests that a good number may
achieve the 20-30% of primary income that is targeted
from such earnings; but data on this segment of income
are broadly lacking at the naonal Felda seler level).
We have included, in addion, the dividend income
received from investments in the KPF.
If the monthly net income for 1986 (when CPO price
was parcularly low) for an oil palm smallholder in a
Felda scheme with a 4 hectare lot was RM376, then the
monthly gross income for that year was RM750. This
was below both the 1985 naonal mean household
income of RM1,098 and the 1985 mean household
incomes of RM861 in the Malaysian states where Felda
selements existed. The laer gure was calculated by
totalling the 1985 mean household income of states
where Felda schemes existed, excluding Selangor as
there were relavely few schemes in this state (based
on data from the Fih Malaysia Plan, p.38).
29
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2A.5: Selers’ average monthly net income (RM) 1979-2004
Felda settler smallholding Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber Oil palm Oil palm Oil palm
2.4 2.8 3.2 4.1 4.9 4.1 4.9 5.7
1979 451 445 561 342 395 805 1,085 1,230
1980 471 457 523 374 606 709 860 864
1981 458 449 527 451 756 632 712 847
1982 333 366 430 412 837 614 758 757
1983 415 443 529 459 1,123 748 868 1,018
1984 460 456 529 493 1,183 1,202 1,401 1,720
1985 366 371 423 429 1,010 885 764 1,203
1986 333 368 415 409 916 376 359 379
1987 377 432 527 575 1311 520 514 580
1988 528 532 706 817 1,297 859 789 1,179
1989 477 384 572 761 761 668 619 874
1990 307 342 455 620 540 437 441 594
1991 348 379 463 553 535 488 502 654
1992 403 403 491 577 608 594 511 721
1993 285 407 385 535 572 729 548 838
1994 465 690 525 863 923 1,126 693 1,407
1995 639 963 692 1,200 1,300 1,426 801 2,201
1996 571 828 551 1,034 1,253 1,064 773 1,416
1997 603 780 586 834 968 1,274 1,215 1,766
1998 547 831 568 824 985 1,848 2,092 1,874
1999 541 685 510 765 817 1,315 1,500 1,421
2000 622 654 554 805 934 765 1,006 784
2001 553 638 561 803 598 735 787 961
2002 829 853 836 1,098 951 999 1,213 1,657
2003 1,263 1,230 1,100 1,929 1,357 919 1,398 2,189
2004 1,371 1,441 1,350 1,915 2,240 1,387 1,807 2,343
Average 1979-2004 519 586 569 736 918 857 890 1,166
Source: Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.37).
16 Figure quoted by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.
hp://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/arcle/rm5900-mean-not-median-household-income-minister-explains (accessed April 2015).
The monthly net income of a Felda oil palm smallholder
in 1999 was esmated to be RM1,315, with a gross
monthly income of RM2,153. Comparavely, this
is slightly below the 1999 mean monthly naonal
gross household income of RM2,472, but higher than
the mean monthly rural gross household income of
RM1,718 (Eight Malaysia Plan, p.61). In 2014, the
naonal monthly gross household income in Malaysia
was RM 5,90016, as compared to RM2,473 average
monthly Felda gross incomes.
30
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2A.6: Selers’ average monthly net income for 4.1 ha of oil palm
Oil palm,
4.1 ha
Oil palm,
4.9 ha
Oil palm,
5.7 ha
Nominal crude palm oil price
(RM, year average)
1979 805 1,085 1,230 1,165
1980 709 860 864 919
1981 632 712 847 964
1982 614 758 757 829
1983 748 868 1,018 991
1984 1,202 1,401 1,720 1,408
1985 885 764 1,203 1,046
1986 376 359 379 579
1987 520 514 580 773
1988 859 789 1,179 1,029
1989 668 619 874 822
1990 437 441 594 701
1991 488 n/a 654 837
1992 594 511 721 917
1993 729 548 838 890
1994 1,126 693 1,407 1,284
1995 1,426 801 2,201 1,473
1996 1,064 773 1,416 1,192
1997 1,274 1,215 1,766 1,358
1998 1,848 2,092 1,874 2,378
1999 1,315 1,500 1,421 1,450
2000 765 1,006 784 997
2001 735 787 961 895
2002 999 1,213 1,657 1,364
2003 919 1,398 2,189 1,544
2004 1,387 1,807 2,343 1,610
Monthly average 1979-2004 889 941 1,211 1,131
Cumulative 1979-2004 277,488 282,168 377,724
Note: 4.1 ha Felda seler earns 9.3x CPO price, 4.9 ha holding earns 9.5x and 5.7 ha holding earns 12.4x CPO price.
Source: Seler smallholding data from Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.37), Malaysia CPO price from MPOB (2015).
The Felda Oil Palm Replanng Fund is another
important Felda managed fund. Lee and Bahrin (2006)
note that a fee of RM40 per seler per 10 acre lot is
collected for the Oil Palm Replanng Fund.
It is esmated that each seler contributes RM9,600
over a 20-year period and is entled to receive
RM17,000 when replanng is carried out. At 2006,
the fund stood at RM759 million (Ibid, p. 40). The
replanng reserve is crucial as it provides income for
selers during the replanng period, when they cannot
harvest oil palm.
31
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High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2A.7: Esmated monthly income sources for 4 ha oil palm seler
1986 1998 2005 2014 Comments
FFB output - est. net income (with
labour cost)
220 2,325 492 1,800 1986-2005, 19 t/ha. FFB; OER 19%; 33%
labour cost, FFB price 21% of CPO price.
2014 from Barlow (2015); 22 t/ha. FFB; FFB
price RM500/tonne; operational charges
RM200/tonne
Est. net income ratio 29% 74% 27% 40%
CPO price 579 2,378 1,394 2,384
Target secondary income (20-30% of
primary)
154 737 493 951 Step up from 20% to 30% over time
KPF investment
1,000-7,500 units @14%)
12 29 58 88 Step up 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 to 7,500 units
of RM1
Incentives n/a n/a 150 150 Annual incentive RM1,000 in cash, KPF
RM500, Hari Raya contribution RM300
Total estimated monthly income - all
sources
386 3,092 1,193 2,473
Note: In 1986 the net monthly income for 4 ha oil palm plot was RM376; gross income was RM750 (net income plus typical monthly obligaon
amount), for 50% net income margin in year when the CPO price was relavely low. There may have been top-ups and/or loan deferment.
Most selers joining Felda had monthly incomes below RM200 (1979 data for all selers). Malaysia minimum monthly wage was RM800 in
2014.
Sources: Monthly seler costs in 1986 from Bahrin and Lee (1986), in 1998 from Bukit Wa Ha scheme in Kota Tinggi, Johor (Wong 2000), in 2005
from Lee and Bahrin (2006, p.43), and 2014 costs and returns from Barlow (2015).
Felda seler secondary incomes
Felda acvely encouraged selers to engage in
“subsidiary acvies” such as livestock producon,
vegetable and fruit culvaon, freshwater sh culture,
and other coage industries (Bahrin and Lee, 1988,
p.90). Selers could also contract themselves out for
jungle clearing, seler house construcon, pest control,
and road maintenance in other schemes once the labour
requirements of their own blocks decreased. Bahrin and
Lee (Ibid, p. 89) say that selers were esmated to earn
RM10 a month on average from subsidiary incomes.
They do not detail how they arrive at this gure, and
there were probably variaons in secondary incomes
from scheme to scheme. However, secondary incomes
were likely to be low. Harun’s (1975) study of the
Sungai Tiang scheme in Kedah found that selers who
did engage in a side income usually did not earn more
than RM50 a month.
Most of the narrave focuses on male selers, but the
wives of selers also contributed to household income
through supplementary incomes. Yahaya (1991, p.
41) found that women were overwhelmingly involved
in animal husbandry and economic acvies in three
dierent Felda schemes in Negeri Sembilan. Yahaya’s
study concentrated on animal husbandry, but she
found that women in the schemes were also involved
in other service oriented economic acvies such as
sewing, laundry services, small retail businesses, and
selling handicras. This was in addion to helping their
husbands with agricultural work on the schemes.
It is interesng to note that in some instances,
secondary incomes, which were a crucial source of
income for selers before the maturity period, became
the main focus of non-farm acvity. Harun’s (1975)
study in Sungai Tiang found that the selers’ secondary
incomes aected the selers’ ability to tend to their
smallholdings (p. 182). A later study by Mohd Radzi
(1991) on migrant labour in the Sungai Koyan scheme
in Pahang found that incomes from subsidiary acvies
allowed selers to hire migrant labour to work the
schemes. This is in turn allowed them more me to
aend to their subsidiary acvies (Ibid, p. 328).
More recently there have been more concentrated
eorts by Felda to develop entrepreneurial acvies
among the selers. In 2003, the Satu Wilayah Satu
Industri or One Region One Industry (SAWARI) project
was launched to promote livestock rearing, cropping,
and aquaculture. The aim of SAWARI is to promote
suitable economic acvies. At present, ten acvies
are classied under three industries: texle and
embroidery (Felda Best Collecons); food (Felda Best
Foods), and handicra (Felda Best Cras). According
to Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.59 ), acvies selected by
SAWARI generated a turnover of RM4.4 million up to
September 2004, and generated RM2,000 a month
in income for entrepreneurs, and RM600-RM800 a
month in income for workers. At the end of 2005, Felda
exceeded its target of involving 30% of selers in its
Entrepreneur Development Programme (EDP) by 2.99%
with a total of 34,024 selers parcipang in its EDP.
Historically, Felda has always encouraged selers to
engage in subsidiary acvies. Inially, this was to help
32
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
them gain a source of income while they waited for
crops to reach maturity. However, a secondary income
from subsidiary acvies must have been important in
a year when commodity prices were low or during the
replanng cycle.
These non-agricultural acvies of late have included
the selers’ children (Bahrin and Lee, 2006, pg. 61),
either as entrepreneurs or mentors in the Graduate
Mentoring Programme that sees seler graduate
children paired up with entrepreneur selers. This is a
necessary development, as the second generaon of
the typically large seler families cannot subsist on the
yields of the smallholdings. Since Felda land cannot be
divided among heirs, the revenue is the only income
from the smallholding available to the heirs, which
can be assumed to be very small once divided among
ve to six heirs. Furthermore, there are anecdotes of
one heir administering and earning all income from a
smallholding. This is likely when other siblings have
migrated out of the scheme. Migraon and inheritance
are discussed further later.
We can surmise from their eorts in obtaining
secondary income that selers were clearly empowering
themselves and their families to be economic agents to
improve their own situaon and were not content to
just be passive recipients of government aid. This sort
of economic agency would become more varied and
more invenve with more experience as will be shown
in next secon of this report.
Felda seler as economic agents – FFB grading, sustainable
cercaon, replanng
The Felda selers were clearly no pushovers when it
came to defending their economic rights. 770 Felda
selers from eight schemes or ‘rancangan’ (including
Felda Chini and Chini Timur, Pekan; all in Pahang) took a
case of what they considered to be unfair fruit grading
to the Kuantan High Court in 2012 and won.
The gist of the case was that they had been paid at a
lower rate for the oil extracon rate (OER) for the last
17 years, averaging at 18.5%, based on the receipt that
is given for each truck delivery of fruit bunches, when
the recommended rate from the Malaysian Palm Oil
Board was at least 22 %. Earlier in January 2010, the
Federal Court had ordered Felda to pay RM11 million
in damages to selers in the Kemahang 3 scheme in
Kelantan for lowering their OER (but the case was won
on a legal technicality). In these cases, lawyers claim
OER for fruit grading that are above those normally
achieved on commercial estates (suggesng a possible
legal strategy to claim high for later negoaon down).
Felda was also accused of deducng their fruit yields
improperly with an average of 200 kg per month for
disqualied fruit bunches, but they did not return the
fruit bunches to the selers. This led to a claim of
a further loss of RM1,344 per year per seler. This
implied that over 17 years, Felda had caused a loss to
the 770 selers of more than RM422 million.
Other examples of typical claims against Felda
include random tests by Felda selers in Jengka with
independent laboratories to assess the actual OER,
which showed a much higher average rate of 27%.
Using the gure of 8.5% lost to the selers, it was
claimed that Felda had caused a loss of RM257.60 per
tonne which worked out to about RM30,912 to each
seler for 2008 alone.17
On the queson of sustainability cercaon, plantaon
specialists report that selers quickly appreciate that
they do not have direct benet from implemenng the
requirements that are needed as they do not receive a
premium to do so. FGV’s senior sustainability manager
indicated that the benets of RSPO cercaon were
intangible to selers and it was dicult to explain these
to them. On the maer of selers being nancially
savvy, he remarked that they used to bring ‘parangs’
(long working knives) to discussions with Felda sta,
but now they also use lawyers and the courts (Interview
with Norazam Abdul Hameed, 3 March 2015).
Replanng is another contenous issue on the Felda
schemes, especially as it requires 50 % consensus
among the selers for group replanng to take place,
and about 80% tend to agree (Khor, 2014, p.95).
Problems arise in schemes, such as those in Pahang,
where there is less social cohesion than in schemes
in Johor and Perak, where there is more (and higher
secondary incomes to oset the drop in income
during replanng). The lack of social cohesion is mainly
because Pahang schemes had the most diversity in
seler origins. Once the selers agree to replanng,
they must sign a 15 year contract with Felda. However,
Khor notes that Felda managers reported that 30-
40% of selers would try to break that contract once
producon starts (Ibid). This is telling of the economic
savvy and polical clout of the selers.
Felda seler land ownership
The main objecve of Felda at its incepon was to give
land to the landless. As noted by Bahrin, Lim and Perera
(1979, p.118), a 1976 Felda Seler Census found that
the majority of selers did not own any land, whether
land suitable to plant paddy or other crops, prior to
entering the schemes. Only 0.6% of selers owned
land in excess of 2 hectares, 3.9% of selers owned
between 0.4 - 1 hectare of land, while 37% of selers
owned no land at all.
17 The 8.5% loss claim is high and could be a tacc used by the selers’ lawyers to start negoaons.
33
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Felda land ownership is dictated by the Land Ordinance
Act 1960, which according to Mohamad, Z. (2010, p.
338) was draed to avoid the problems of tradional
land. This means that although most selers are Malay
Muslims, Felda land is controlled by secular legislaon.
Therefore, only two people can be registered as co-
owners of a Felda holding, namely the seler and the
rst wife he entered the scheme with. Bahrin and Lee
(1988) also note that a seler wife divorced by her
husband “is entled to 50% of the value of the property
that both of them have accumulated”.
Mohamad, Z. (2010, p. 339) notes that the heirs of a
Felda holding are only entled to the revenue derived
from a smallholding. A representave from the heirs
is appointed to manage the smallholding, and the
remaining heirs receive a share of the revenue. It is
illegal for a smallholding to be divided among heirs.
However, Mohamad, Z’s 2010 study (p.341) found
that there were a high number of unresolved power of
aorney cases among the selers. In Felda Lurah Bilut
in Pahang where the study was carried out, about 30%
of smallholdings, or 4,527 families, faced inheritance
issues. The study also found that a majority of selers
did not have a clear understanding of the restricons on
Felda land in regard to inheritance.
This issue of inheritance remains as a long-term
problem of the seler schemes, yet to be fully resolved
by Felda, and is parcularly bothersome when it is
coupled with the problem of ageing selers, which will
be discussed in the next secon.
Table 2A.8: Number of unseled Felda inheritance
applicaons in selected districts
District No. of
unresolved
inheritance
applications
No. of
residents
who
have not
applied for
inheritance
Total
Johor 356 543 899
Segamat 318 647 965
Kuantan 136 249 385
Temerloh 238 289 527
Jengka 233 549 782
Negeri Sembilan 268 331 599
Ipoh 148 349 497
Gua Musang 17 34 51
Terengganu 114 175 289
Sabah 19 10 29
Total 1,847 3,176 5,023
Source: Mohamad, Z., 2010, p.14.
Felda seler ageing - migrant labour and share cropping
The use of migrant labour on Felda schemes became
inevitable as the original selers aged, and the second
generaon was largely uninterested in engaging in
agricultural work or rural life. According to Mohd. Radzi
(1991, p. 328) there was also a percepon among
selers that migrant labourers were able to work harder
than their family members. Mohd. Radzi’s study took
place in Felda Sungai Koyan, Pahang, where there
was a signicant number of selers who had been ex-
servicemen with pensions. This extra income allowed
the selers to hire migrant labourers.
Table 2A.9: Pension rate for Felda selers, Sungai
Koyan, 1991
Total pension amount
received per month (RM)
Number of
pensioners
Percentage
200 - 249 3 14.3
250 - 299 2 9.5
300 - 349 3 14.3
350 - 399 4 19
400 - 449 3 14.3
450 - 500 4 19
More than 500 2 9.5
Total 21 100
Source: Mohd. R, 1991, p.160.
According to the study, selers were also more likely to
hire migrant labour if they had a secondary income, as
they were busy tending to their secondary businesses,
although it also found that a small number of selers
contracted migrant labour due to health problems. The
study predicted that job opportunies for migrants
would increase as Felda opened up more schemes and
failed to aract the second generaon to engage in
agricultural work (Mohd. Radzi, 1991, pp.328-329).
The current state of Felda smallholdings has not
been studied recently in depth. One of our principal
invesgators, Johan Saravanamuu, observed that
a Johor oil palm scheme was rather quiet during the
2011 state level Tenang by-elecon. This could possibly
be because oil palm is relavely less labour intensive,
and the ageing selers have moved away. Thus some
schemes are largely managed by Felda. This is a likely
state of aairs in the Bilut Valley, where many original
selers have passed on, and the smallholdings should
now be owned and managed by the second generaon.
Khor (2014, p. 91) on the other hand observed that
UMNO had promised to build new homes for the
34
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
younger residents of Felda selements as a strategy
to win votes.18 It was found that there was more than
one family living in each house. These two observaons
indicate that there is a range of situaons, and the
status and reasons for a crowded or empty household
are not well studied.
Table 2A.10: Malaysian cizens and non-cizens in
FELDA Peninsular Malaysia, 1989
State Citizens Non-citizens Total
Kedah/Perlis 912
(7.7%)
98
(2.3%)
1,010
Perak/
Selangor
884
(7.5%)
109
(2.5%)
993
Negeri
Sembilan
748
(6.4%)
149
(3.5%)
897
Johor/
Melaka
3,861
(32.8%)
1,546
(35.9%)
5,407
Pahang 4,282
(36.3%)
1,607
(37.3%)
5,889
Terengganu 653
(5.5%)
463
(10.7%)
1,116
Kelantan 442
(3.8%)
338
(7.8%)
780
Total 11,782
(73.2%)
4,310
(26.8%)
16,092
(100%)
Source: Mohd. R, 1991, p.135.
Felda seler - family structure and development
Bahrin, Perera and Lim (1979, p. 197) have noted that
most selers had large families; 86.7% had ve or
more family members, and 96.5% had four or more
family members. Only 3.2% of selers had only three
family members while 2.3% had less than three. At least
21.4% of selers had as many as 10 or more family
members. Seler family size averaged out to be 6.87
people in all schemes. A 2001 study by Ahmad found
that the average family size in the Felda Lepar Hilir 2
selement in Raub, Pahang was ve to six children. This
was despite the availability of family planning services in
the selement.
Second generaon issues – educaon, migraon,
employment, social issues
In general the selers’ children have seen an
improvement in their socio-economic status and
enjoyed upward social mobility (although recent
policies for 20,000 new homes in Felda areas suggests
that some were le in more meagre circumstances).
While schemes setup and managed by Felda from
the beginning came with educaonal facilies such as
kindergartens, this was not always the case. One case
study by Khalid (1980, p.223) in Malacca found that the
Kemendor, Menggong, and Machap schemes, which
were originally managed by the state government,
did not come with primary school infrastructure. This
meant that the selers’ children in those schemes either
had to stop school or be sent to live with relaves to
connue their educaon.
Bahrin and Lee (2006, p. 50) report that the number
of kindergartens and kindergarten teachers has
been increasing since the Felda schemes opened.
Selers contributed toward the construcon costs of
kindergartens, with RM 5,000 grants per scheme from
Felda.
Table 2A.11: Kindergarten facilies in Felda selements
across Malaysia
Year Kindergartens Teachers Children
Attending
1976 104 7,938
1987 321 631 19,863
1990 26,439
Source: Bahrin and Lee; 2006, p.50.
Primary schools were built with government grants,
while secondary schools were built when there were
enough secondary school age children on the scheme.
Otherwise, children aended secondary schools outside
the schemes. Felda has been increasing educaonal
opportunies for the selers’ children over the years.
In 1975, a residenal hostel was established in Kuala
Lumpur to cater to the top 60 performing students
from Felda schemes. The children in the hostel then
aended school in selected secondary schools in KL.
The number of hostels increased, with one in Kuantan
in 1981 (later replaced by one in Trolak), one in Johor
Bahru in 1982, and one in Kelana Jaya in 1988.
Collecvely, the hostels could accommodate 1,500
students. As of 2004, according to Bahrin and Lee
(2006, p. 52) 7,847 students had beneted from these
hostels. These 7,847 students represent about 1% of
the total number of seler children.
18 During the May 2015 Rompin parliament by-elecon (53,596 voters, with 87% comprising Malays living in 14 Felda selements), news reports revealed
that Felda had allocated RM 1.4 billion in 2013 for 20,000 new homes for second generaon selers with the price reduced from RM124,000 to RM90,000
apiece (hp://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/arcle/felda-has-never-cheated-selers-says-chairman-bernama#sthash.WH3loMxQ.dpuf, 24 April 2015).
20,000 homes represent 3.5% of the second generaon of 4.8 children per seler, suggesng a focus on the second generaon residing in Felda areas
in overcrowded seler homes. Not surprisingly, all selers may not be in a happy situaon too: Persatuan Anak Anak Felda Kebangsaan informaon chief
Naraza Muda alleged that many rst generaon selers were beleaguered with debts, some reaching up to RM150,000” (Source: 26 April 2015; hp://www.
therakyatpost.com/news/2015/04/26/felda-selers-facing-housing-nancial-woes/).
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Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
In 2004, 64% of the 17,876 selers’ children passed
their UPSR (primary school leaving) examinaon,
exceeding the naonal average of 60% (Bahrin and
Lee, 2006, pg. 52). Since August 2004, the Ministry of
Educaon has helped to implement tuion classes in
the Felda schemes. Felda has also established Instut
Teknologi Utama (ITU) for informaon technology
and mulmedia skills and Kolej Integrasi Ilmu (KINI) to
prepare Felda students going on to higher educaon.
Youth who stay on the schemes are encouraged to join
vocaonal skills training. It seems that this Felda second
generaon is what Felda is targeng with its 2013
policy for 20,000 new homes.
Studies such as Ghazali’s (1988) show that there has
been a considerable out-migraon from the schemes by
the selers’ children, with few wanng to stay on and
manage the schemes. Bahrin and Lee (2006, pg. 54),
note that there were a total of 13,061 professionals
among the Felda children up to 2005. These include
plantaon managers (241 people), engineers (1,032)
and doctors (275). However, according to Ghazali,
the majority of selers’ children migrang out of the
schemes went on to work in manufacturing and the
service industry (p.33).
While the overall picture points to increasing upward
social mobility, and improved educaonal aainment,
there have also been cases of social ills. Bahrin and Lee
(2006) esmate that there are 1,600 drug addicted
youth in the Felda land schemes (p. 53). Wong (2000)
notes rampant social ills such as drug use and illegal
motorcycle racing in his study of the Bukit Tinggi
scheme in Johor. In the naonal context, drug addicon
is widely regarded to be a problem. Recent data
from a statement issued by Deputy Home Minister
Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Bernama, 2015) puts the
number of drug addicts in Malaysia from 1998 to
2013 as recorded by the Naonal An-Drugs Agency
at 365,945 people. Wan Junaidi said that the World
Health Organisaon states for every addict detected,
there are four more undetected.
Bahrin and Lee (2006, pg. 53) report that there are
1,700 seler children were recorded as being involved
in other undesirable acvies, such as vandalism and
the. The presence of social ills in Felda schemes was
also found in Wan Ismail’s (2003) study of the Ulu
Belitong scheme in Johor. Most delinquent youths in
the Ulu Belitong scheme were involved in truancy.
However, drug abuse and loitering in town (lepak in
Malay) also occurred. Social issues such as lepak and
mat rempit (youths involved in illegal motorcycle street
racing) gangs are a concern among working class Malay
youth in Malaysia, so it is unsurprising that the same
issues occur in Felda selements.
Felda seler outcome– creaon of a modern farmer and a
rural middle class?
A recurring theme in the literature is an inability/
unwillingness of the selers to manage the schemes
on their own once they have repaid their debts to
Felda. Harun (1975, p. 118) conrms this and points
out that the selers in these schemes had not fully
adapted to the Felda method of farming and standards
of producon. Selers in the Sungai Tiang scheme
studied by Harun had cleared the land and built their
own homes. This contrasts with the later system where
selers were only introduced to the schemes once
the land had been cleared and basic infrastructure laid
down. This led later selers to feel less proprietary
towards their smallholding. As a result, infracons such
as not ferlising according to schedule, not taking
measures to preserve the rubber tree bark, and not
tapping according to their turns occurred and aected
overall output. They preferred to do as they pleased,
listening less to Felda eld managers, even feeling
entled to sell their rubber illegally (avoiding loan
repayments).
Lee and Bahrin (2006, p.23) seem to think that the
goal of creang a “modern farming community” was
achieved. However, while studies such as Harun’s and
Mamat (2011) found that overall the selers did see
an improvement in economic terms, their conclusions
about the success of modernising rural folk in Felda
schemes diered. Mamat’s study points to a unique
form of modernisaon occurring on Felda schemes;
selers had high expectaons for their children’s
academic aainment and could accept new ideas, but
sll clung to some tradional and religious beliefs.
However, Harun’s study concludes that Felda was not
wholly successful in establishing “a stock of modern and
progressive farmers” thanks to the heavy dependence
of the selers on Felda.
Table 2A.12: Level of educaon selers aspire to for
children in Felda Semarak Jengka 15, Pahang, 2011
Level of Education Percentage
University level 82%
College level 5%
Finish secondary school 11%
Finish primary school 2%
Source: Mamat, 2011, p.238.
36
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
The Felda selement
Felda selement – green eld and brown eld sites
Table 2A.13: Land developed by Felda and state development programmes, 1961-1995 (hectares)
1961 - 1965 1966 - 1970 1971 -75 1971 - 80 1981 - 1985 1986 - 95
Felda 48,279 72,439 166,882 373,705 161,600 175,745
State
Programmes 93,806 40,064 143,884 290,133 158,000 160,000
Source: Bahrin and Lee, 1988, p.26; gures in Malaysia Plans from the Second Plan to Sixth Malaysia Plan.
The literature, including the books commissioned by
Felda such as 3 Decades of Evoluon and Felda’s Fiy
Years: Land Pioneers to Investors, do not oer details
about the types of land that were developed. More
specically, there is no menon whether the areas that
were cleared for the Felda schemes were primary or
secondary forest, or what kind of mber was found
there. However, we have noted though that it is known
that “tropical forests” and also some “forest reserves”
were developed by Felda according to World Bank
documents.
Furthermore, it is known that Felda took over the
management of some state government schemes.
For example, the Kemendor, Menggong and Machap
schemes in Malacca were opened by the state
government, but were eventually taken over by Felda
in 1961 (Khalid, 1980, p. 223). Such sites can be
considered browneld sites, though the literature
review has not revealed extensive study of this issue,
rather it features only as a side detail.
Diagram 2A.1: Layout of Typical Felda Village
Felda selement - social services
Felda selements were planned with social services
and amenies to give the selements a semi-urban
feel. This was in part to reduce the amount of rural-
urban migraon. According to Bahrin and Lee (1988)
all schemes have reserves for most of the following
amenies: a Felda eld oce, community centre, post
oce, police staon, market, petrol kiosk, bus staon,
re staon, cinema, health clinic, public library, Women’s
Instute, co-operave shop, Youth Club, Young Farmers
Club, place of worship, government reserves, and a
public playground. Schemes that were developed by
Felda from the beginning were also planned with a
reserve for a primary school. A secondary school would
be built for the scheme if there were enough secondary
school aged children in the area. There was also usually
planning for a hospital to serve schemes and outlying
areas, a power staon, and a graveyard. Bahrin and
Lee (1988, p.119) note that the provision of these
amenies was not always immediately available at the
me of seler entry, and the goal of providing a semi-
urban environment was not always met, though Bahrin
and Lee (2006) note that this has improved since their
earlier publicaon.
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, pg. 117).
37
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Diagram 2A.2: Layout of typical Felda house lot
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, pg. 118).
Felda selement – local economy linkages
The literature so far has not covered this topic. The
Jengka Triangle is a possible example. It was the “oldest
large-scale Felda regional land selement scheme”
(Bahrin and Lee, 1988, p.121) and was meant to have
a populaon of 85,000 by the end of the 1980s. It was
near the towns of Jerantut, Temerloh and Maran, but
it was thought that selers would need froner towns
nearer their schemes. However, of the three towns
planned within the Triangle, only Bandar Pusat was built
and it did not grow as planned, being unable to compete
with the established towns (Bahrin and Lee, 1988,
p.123). There is more discussion of this in Part 2B.
Diagram 2A.3: Jengka mul-selement
Source: Bahrin and Lee (1988, p.122).
Felda selement - the local environment
There is notable lack of substanve research on the
local environmental issues within Felda selements.
Environmental impact is also noceably absent
from the Felda commissioned text Felda’s Fiy Years:
Land Pioneers to Investors. At present our literature
review has only come across a few academic
exercises (undergraduate coursework) on this topic.
Instuonally, Felda only engaged with environmental
conservaon issues in the late 1980s when developing
the Sahabat schemes in Sabah. This is evidenced by the
collaboraon between Felda and WWF to deal with
environmental issues.
From the available research, air polluon from oil palm
reneries close to the selements seems to be the
major concern of selers. Ali (2009) and Halim (2009)
note that air polluon from mills was present in their
respecve case study sites, with Ali’s study nong a
coang of black dust on seler’s home furnishings
as a result of smoke coming from the processing unit
(p. 104). Ali also notes that the level of concern for
environmental issues in the Batang Padang district of
Perak depends on individual management. For example,
the lter on the renery’s chimney had not been
changed for a long me, but a change in management
resulted in the lter being changed, and consequently
less air polluon (Ibid, p. 123).
38
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Water polluon is another concern on Felda
selements. Tarmizi’s study (2000) notes that the
permied level of euent emissions from mills has
changed considerably since 1972 when high emissions
were allowed. The permied levels are smaller now
and anaerobic ponds have to be built to lter industrial
waste, though overspill into nearby rivers sll occurs.
As will be shown in Part 2B of this study, environmental
concerns were not parcularly evident in the early
Felda schemes and, while the World Bank appeared
to have monitored the Jengka schemes in Pahang on
polluon, no major breaches of policy were found.
However, the Bank did nd an incident of raw euent
being discharged from a private mill in 1974 and similar
events were also reported from near Sungai Pahang, but
apparently none were reported in Jengka itself (World
Bank, 1987). This appears to corroborate the study by
Ali and Halim cited earlier that non-Felda, private mills
were the perpetrators of polluon.
However, at the same me as joining the RSPO in
2004, there was an instuonal shi as revealed by the
2004 Felda publicaon, Towards Sustainable Palm Oil
Producon. The booklet details the current producon
methods such as soil erosion control, minimising fossil
fuel use, integrated pest management and the future
challenges and areas in need of improvement.
• The original goal of Felda, poverty
eradicaon and reseling landless farmers,
was largely a success. The majority of
selers saw an increase in income aer
moving into the schemes, and perceived
their post-selement lives as beer (details
are given in Part 3). However, these socio-
economic improvements that included
school infrastructure for seler children, had
an unintended eect of creang a rural to
urban migraon paern among the selers’
children. This is ironic as the Felda schemes
were supposed to contain rural to urban
migraon.
• This trend of out-migraon has connued,
with the majority of the Felda second
generaon uninterested in agricultural work.
Furthermore, there is some conjecture that
Felda was and is uninterested in training the
seler children, who for the most part are
beer educated than their parents, to join its
managerial sta or downstream industries. It
is thought that Felda wants to keep meddling
in the selers’ lives to a minimum.
• This brings us to the queson of how
successful Felda was in creang modern
farmers. A major cricism of Felda is that the
selers remained over dependent on Felda
to solve their problems. The original goal
of smallholders who would manage their
smallholdings independently aer repaying
their debts was never met. Felda sll
manages the majority of smallholdings, and
those that have been taken over and run by
smallholders themselves (with anecdotes of
share cropping arrangement with Indonesian
migrants) apparently not meeng the Felda
standard of producon.
• However, Felda’s role in managing the
smallholdings is invaluable as the selers
age, and especially in the current era
of sustainability. It is doubul that the
smallholders would comply with sustainability
standards if it were not for Felda assistance
given the lack of sucient direct nancial
incenves oered by RSPO cercaon
(details follow in Part 2B).
Summary
39
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Synopsis
In this secon, we examine the instuonal context of
Felda, its development as a corporate enty and how
this has aected selers. A brainchild of Malaysia’s
rst rural development minister and second prime
minister, Tun Abdul Razak, Felda was inially formulated
as a land reform programme to resele landless
farmers, raise their level of livelihood and modernise
their living condions. It was executed with strong
polical will, strong partnership between Federal and
state authories, close links and coordinaon with
ministries and movated Felda sta. By most criteria,
the project was a major success but Felda’s operaons
were increasingly adjusted to its corporasaon
and its emergence as Malaysia’s largest producer of
palm oil. This role changed the dynamics of Felda’s
relaonship with its original seler programme. Felda’s
instuonal expansion and advancement turned it into
a conglomerate replete with a plethora of upstream
and downstream acvies, executed by a host of
subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate companies.
This meant that the selers became a peripheral rather
than a central pillar of its acvies. This said, selers
connued to play an important role via their investment
in KPF which owned 51% of key processing assets of
the Felda Group unl late 2013.
The secon reviews how the forward and backward
economic linkages of the Felda seler schemes
generated their own mulplier eects on the local and
naonal economy. We show here that Felda selements
became part of a web of semi-urban conurbaons
promoted by various state and Federal agencies in the
push for economic development and modernisaon.
Indeed, a few selements were sold en bloc for
suburban housing projects.
The secon reveals how Felda schemes had in the
past encroached on forest land, in both secondary and
primary forests, and how contractors, government-
linked enes and the state governments beneted
from mber complexes which were part of two large
regional Felda schemes on the Peninsula, Jengka
Triangle and Johor Tenggara. State-controlled agencies
and Bumiputera trusts, state governments and private
contractors were the likely beneciaries of these mber
complexes. At the same me, with the establishment,
with World Bank assistance, of its largest scheme
(Sahabat) Felda was able set up a forest conservaon
project in Sabah. The web of economic linkages has
been handled by Felda Holdings Bhd over me, with
selers connuing to have a majority share (but not
necessarily a controlling hand). This situaon has
arguably connued into the global phase of Felda, when
Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) was listed in
Part 2B: Felda and its Instuonal Context
2012. The secon ends by discussing the implicaons
of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
cercaon for smallholders with its target date for
cercaon, alongside that for FGV mills and estates,
set at 2017.
Policy, administraon and external linkages
At its independence from the Brish in 1957, 73.4%
of Peninsular Malaysia’s 6.5 million populaon lived
in rural areas, with Malays comprising 60.2% of this
rural sector (Ngah, 2010, p. 2). The Felda schemes
were undoubtedly one of Malaysia’s primary rural
development strategies aimed at solving problems of
rural poverty, low income, and the lack of adequate
infrastructure and amenies in the rural sector. Felda
specically targeted the large-scale reselement of
landless farmers by opening up virgin land. Other
central statutory agencies established for rural
development within the ministry headed by Tun Abdul
Razak were the Rural Industrial Development Authority
(RIDA), Federal Land Consolidaon and Rehabilitaon
Authority (FELCRA), Rubber Smallholders’ Development
Authority (RISDA), and Federal Agricultural Markeng
Authority (FAMA). In the period of the New Economic
Policy (1970-1990), Felda and these Federal agencies
and others created by the government dovetailed into
the plan for the eradicaon of poverty and upliing
of the economic lot of the Bumiputera (which by the
me of the NEP included the indigenous populaons
of Sabah and Sarawak). The increase and then decline
of land development in the NEP period by the various
agencies, including Felda, is described in Table 2B.1
below.
Felda remained the primary instrument for land
development and reselement of selers in the
NEP period, with 600,000 hectares opened up for
agriculture between 1970 and 1990. However, as palm
oil and other commodity prices fell in the mid-1980s,
land development slowed and in the 6th Malaysia Plan
(1991-1995), no new allocaon for land development
was given to Felda on the Peninsula, instead schemes
were developed in Sabah. Ngah (2010, p. 8) suggests
that it was not only the lack of suitable land but rather
the rising cost of reseling families which prompted
such a change of policy. The average cost of reseling a
family under Felda schemes increased from RM49,700
in 1986 to RM55,000 in 1990, compared to RM26,000
in 1976 (Ibid.).
The 6th Malaysia Plan demonstrated the success of
Felda in over-achieving targets by developing some
175,500 ha of land and reseling 26,100 families which
meant that a total of 715,800 persons came under the
smallholder schemes by the end of 1990. Ironically, this
success set the stage for the halt to the scheme aer
40
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
1990 (Suon and Buang, 1995, p. 127). Dr Mahathir
Mohamad as prime minister emphasised in a speech
on the Second Outline Perspecve Plan (OPP2), 1991-
2000, that Felda land schemes cost more than estates
run by the private sector. In lieu of land reselement,
in situ schemes became the order of the day especially
on the Peninsula. Moreover, in this period, a plethora of
privased enes or regional development authories
(RDAs) were created such as the Pahang Tenggara RDA
(DARA) and the Johor Tenggara RDA (KEJORA) aimed
at upliing the rural poor through urbanisaon. For
Felda, the change was mainly a switch from its selers’
programme to an emphasis on the plantaon sector.
The change from smallholdings to estates in terms of
hectares planted from the 1960s to the early 2000s is
demonstrated in the following table.
Table 2B.1: Felda smallholders and plantaon area by
crop, 2005
Ownership Crop Hectares Plantations
vs settler
area (%)
By
crop
(%)
Felda
Plantations
Oil Palm 334,394 96
Rubber 7,579 2
Others 6,877 2
Total 348,850 43 100
Settler
Smallholdings
Oil palm 367,787 80
Rubber 94,503 20
Total 462,290 57 100
Overall
total
811,140 100
Source: Lee & Bahrin, 2006: p. 98.
Along with the shi in policy came the organisaonal
restructuring of Felda. By 1992, a plantaons division
(Felda Plantaons Sdn Bhd) was established to generate
income and reduced government expenditure. The
smallholder schemes were stabilised at 57.0% of the
culvated land of which three quarters were oil palm. For
plantaons, 95.8% was under oil palm (Lee and Bahrin,
2006, p. 97). Also, a Manufacturing and Trading division
was created, combining the old corporaons and joint
venture secons (Suon and Buang, 1995, p. 129).
By 1990s and into the 2000s as Felda’s administrave
structure stabilised, its 275 smallholder schemes are
managed by 11 regional oces, each headed by a
Regional General Manager who report to the Deputy
Director-General of Operaons and Deputy Director-
General of Development located at the Felda head
oce as shown in the organisaonal chart below.
The main burden of the smallholdings division was to
ensure consistent output and quality, as noted by Lee
and Bahrin (2006 pp. 99-113). In 1985, the share of
FFB classied as Grade A was a mere 50.1%; so training
on crop maintenance, ferliser use and the like was
regularly carried out with the selers. Of some interest
is Felda’s use of high yielding variees developed by the
Felda Agricultural Services Corporaon. By 1981, Felda
smallholdings sourced all their seed requirements from
this corporaon. In me its oshoot, Felda Agricultural
Services Sdn Bhd (FASSB), was able to produce more
than 15 million seeds per year. FASSB has also been
responsible for the crucial job of assisng selers in
replanng their crop. Replanng cycles and systems
were established in three phases; 1983-1992, 1993-
1997 and 1998 onwards. By 2005, 216,230 hectares
involving 56,881 selers, had been replanted.
Table 2B.2: Felda seler costs, income and resourcing
indicators
Cost item /
indicator
Per seler
cost (1990)
RM 50,000 (US$19,230) in 1990; seler
repays ⅔ over 15 years at 6.25% interest,
mainly for cost of 4 ha. oil palm holding and
house. Cost likely to be double now with
3% per year cost inaon.
Seler net
income, 4 ha
oil palm plot
25 year cumulave net income, 1979-2004,
was RM 276,948 (average RM11,078 per
year or RM 923 per month). 2014 total
income esmated at almost RM2,500
(Barlow, 2015b).
Seler gross
versus net
income, 4 ha
oil palm plot
In 1986 (a year of low prices) net monthly
income for a 4 ha oil palm plot was RM376
(US$145). Gross income, net income plus
typical monthly obligaon amount, was
RM750 (US$288), for a 50% net income
margin.
Seler cost/
selement
and for Felda
project,
based on
1986 cost
RM 5.0 million (US$1.92 million) per oil
palm selement and RM6.0 billion (US$2.3
billion) for 120,000 seler families.
Cost of land Free; land was alienated from states to
FELDA and not charged to seler.
Cost of basic
infrastructure
and social
amenies
Roads, water supply, public buildings,
etc., may cost 10% of combined project
value or RM 0.67 billion for 120,000 seler
families
Number of
Felda sta
Selements of 300-500 people enjoyed
the services of 25-35 onsite sta, over
a third of whom worked on community
development programmes (Anon. ALR,
2015). The sta-seler household rao was
reduced from 8.1 in 1980 to 5.1 in 1990
(Lee & Bahrin, p. 26 and p. 189).
Note: The total cost of the Johor Tenggara project was RM209.2
million (US$89.8 million. Government spending on roads,
water supply, and public buildings, such as schools and
health centres, was US$10 million (World Bank, 1974); 1986
exchange rate US$=RM2.60.
41
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
The stang of Felda Holdings Bhd, the parent
company 51% owned by the KPF (owned by selers),
has kept pace with Felda’s development. Employees
in the corporate sector of Felda far outstrip those in
the schemes. In 2004, the number employed in the
schemes stood at 2,293 compared to 17,780 in the
corporaons (Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p. 190). The growth
in the number of companies created by and associated
with Felda explains this imbalance. There were also joint
ventures with foreign companies to assist its markeng
division and Felda opened rening and bulking
installaons in major markets such as Pakistan, China,
South Africa and Egypt. Lee and Bahrin (2006, p. 152-
169) stated that Felda owned 26 subsidiaries, had nine
joint ventures and eight associate companies under its
wing by 2004.
Table 2B.3: Felda Group employees, 2005
No. of Employees
Senior Management 90
Executive 2,152
Non-executive 8,978
Daily- paid staff 7,721
Total 17,941
Source: Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p.150.
Felda’s major policy shi in 1991 from a scheme which
was primarily geared to the economic upliing and
reselement of smallholders could be understood
essenally as a shi to the corporate development
and nancing of the palm oil industry in Malaysia,
through its upstream and downstream industries,
with the aendant global linkages. The rise of the
palm oil industry, parcularly on the downstream side,
is described by writers such as Gustafsson (2007),
who notes that there were several factors explaining
expansion of the Malaysian oil palm plantaons, notably
the long experience in culvaon and markeng of
rubber and the ease of diversicaon to oil palm. Felda
alone accounted for a third of this diversicaon from
1960 to 1990. The government played a major role
in the palm oil rening industry, as part of Malaysia’s
export-oriented industrialisaon. In 2004 export
earnings from rened palm oil exceeded those from
crude petroleum and, next to electronics, the palm oil
industry had become “Malaysia’s premier post–World
War II export success story” (Gustafsson 2007, p. 67).
Malaysia’s access in the palm oil world market has
not been without its obstacles. Folds argues that
Felda’s corporased structure has been adapted to the
World Trade Organisaon (WTO)’s new internaonal
regulaons on agricultural trade (Folds, 2000, p. 483).
Felda, state administraon, management and polics
As the Felda schemes moved into a more stable,
mature state, the switch was made from the centrally
orchestrated block system to a system of self-
management through local level Development Councils
(Jawatankuasa Kerja Kemajuan Rancangan, JKKR). As
noted by Suon (1989, p. 345), the JKKRs served as
the vehicle for seler involvement and parcipaon
in the highest decision-making body of each seler
scheme. A leader is elected from among 20 selers
to be the representave in the scheme’s JKKR. Other
representaves include the school head, the midwife,
the imam and representaves of various associaons.
Over me, the JKKR and its elected leaders exercised
the funcons of former Felda administrators. By the
late 1970s, 2,700 seler leaders were in JKKRs with
306 serving on the state or regional commiees and 26
in the naonal commiee (Ibid). The JKKRs increased
to about 290 by 1987. Other associaons included
102 seler associaons, 323 women associaons
and 305 youth associaons. In 1991, 232 seler
cooperaves joined these enes in the Felda schemes.
Representaves of local JKKRs also sit on regional level
ones and on various Felda boards (Suon and Buang,
1995, p. 132).
The signicance of the oil palm industry for Malaysia
and selers’ unique place in it explains the inevitable
policisaon of their role through their own self-
awareness and also the intervenon of polical actors.
Ramli (2003) in a study of a Jengka Triangle scheme found
the Malaysian Islamic party, PAS, had been aempng
to win voters over to its cause through its missionary
or “dakwah” acvies and through the use of women
campaigners (perayu undi) in general elecons. There have
been several other allusions by academic observers to
the importance of the Felda schemes and its selers as
a vong bloc for the UMNO, the dominant party within
Malaysia’s Naonal Front government, the ruling coalion
that has governed the country since 1957. Studies have
shown that Felda selers have by and large voted for
UMNO in general elecons. Khor (2015) notes that
selers and those who work in Felda may count for some
2 million voters. Felda areas could therefore account for
9% of Malaysia’s 13 million registered voters, making the
polical clout of this key rural interest group a substanal
factor in electoral polics. This power of the Felda
voters is enhanced by the imbalance that exists between
small rural and large urban constuencies which gives a
disproporonate number of parliamentary seats to rural
constuencies. Mohamad (2015) suggests that Felda
selers constute a “vote bank” for UMNO with Felda
areas largely coinciding with the electoral constuencies
won by UMNO. Thus, from a government perspecve,
Felda areas represented a “captured rural-corporased”
Malay vote (Mohamad 2015) and we can extrapolate from
this that the economic nurturing of the selers and their
schemes was not just important for the economy but also
for the government’s own longevity and polical survival.
Some studies have referred to protests by Felda selers
vis-à-vis certain government policies and generally
over their own working and living condions (Mehmet,
42
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
1986, p. 69). Most recently, the Naonal Associaon
of Felda Selers’ Children (Persatuan Anak-Anak Felda
- ANAK) has protested over FGV and the oang of
its shares on the stock market (Khor, 2014, pp.98-
99). The ongoing polics in Felda has also revolved
around seler lawsuits which the Opposion pares
have tried to exploit by throwing their support behind
the selers. Khor (2015, pp. 101-102) states that at
least 23 lawsuits have been led, of which 18 cases
against Felda have been ocially reported by the
Prime Minister’s Department. Up to February 2011,
the outcomes were as follows: 12 have been decided
by the courts with the only loss for Felda being the
technical loss in the Felda Kemahan 3 cases in Kelantan
where Felda’s counsel failed to show up; six cases were
pending, with total claims of RM90 million (US$30
million). Since early 2011, at least ve big new cases
have been led, including several by Sivarasa of the PKR
Opposion party. The claims in the following cases are
in excess of RM1.2 (US$ 0.4) billion:
1. Four selements in Pahang; Felda Mempaga 1,
Mempaga 2, Mempaga 3 and Bukit Damar.
2. Eight Felda selements in Pekan, Pahang - Felda
Chini and Felda Chini Timur.
3. Two in Jengka, Pahang.
4. Bera, Pahang.
5. Rancangan Serng and Gugusan Raja Alias in Negeri
Sembilan.
6. Felda Maokil in Labis Johor.
7. Felda Kemahang 3, Kelantan (a landmark case).
Four of the listed ‘seler versus FELDA’ lawsuits are in
Pahang, where, as menoned earlier, selements suer
from relave lack of social cohesion. Selers in eight
FELDA selements located near premier Najib Razak’s
constuency of Pekan in Pahang have taken a suit
against FELDA. In this case, 770 Felda selers led a suit
against Felda and Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd in April
2012, alleging RM422 (US$141) million of losses over
17 years. Yet, electoral support for the ruling Barisan
Naonal among selers is very high. In the 2013 General
Elecon, ruling Barisan Naonal candidates won 47 of
the 54 parliamentary constuencies located within Felda
schemes (Mohamad 2015).
Most studies of Felda have found it to be nancially
viable (Lee and Bahrin, 2006; Suon, 1989). However,
studies taking a more crical stance (Salleh, 1991,
Mehmet, 1982; 1986) have also suggested that
Felda selers have been faced with an undue level of
indebtedness or that the schemes are too high cost and
could easily be faulted on cost-benet grounds. In a
comparison between Felda and Felcra, Mehmet found
that, while both were high cost programmes, Felda
fared beer on the basis of prot-maximisaon criteria
but with respect to social policy, parcularly poverty
eradicaon, Mehmet felt that Felcra did the beer job.19
We now turn to the nancing of Felda schemes
and the returns to its investments.20 Without doubt
the bulk of Felda expenditure has come from the
Malaysian government, but there has been signicant
development nancial assistance from agencies such as
the World Bank and foreign governments such as the
United Kingdom, Japan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
In the formave years of 1956-1961, apart from state
funding, Felda received loans from
the Commonwealth Development Corporaon
(CDC), UK. These loans were channelled into the
government’s Malayan Developments Ltd, and by
1961had exceeded RM6 million. By mid-1962, Felda
had received a total of RM32.2 million from three
sources: the Federal Government, CDC, and the Rubber
Industry Smallholders’ New Planng Scheme, of which
the government had provided the bulk. A Central
Welfare Fund for selers was also created and allocated
RM142,000 by 1964. As Felda grew, its funding needs
naturally increased but in 1970 the CDC ceased its
funding and Felda turned instead to the World Bank for
nancial assistance.
By 1987, the World Bank had approved eight loans
totalling US$232.1 million. The 7th loan of US$26.1
million nanced the construcon of eight palm oil
mills and a loan of US$50 million the construcon
of roads, bridges and water supply systems. Other
sources of Felda funding were the Overseas Economic
Cooperaon Fund (OECF), with a grant of 2,997 billion
yen (RM91.4 million) in 1972; US$2.8 million (RM10.3
million) from the Asian Development Bank in 1969:
RM63 million from the Kuwait Fund for Economic
Development (KFAED) in 1975; and RM100.8 million
in 1975 from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD).
The table below shows the sources of funding of Felda
schemes in1990-2004. The funding reached its peak
of almost RM500 million in 1990. World Bank and
Saudi funding came to an end in 1993 (Lee and Bahrin,
2006, p.198). In the ensuing ve years, the Malaysian
government contributed 90% of the total funding
for the scheme. By 1990, cumulave repayments to
the government topped RM1.5 billion and by 2000,
repayments totalled RM6.0 billion, with all outstanding
interest paid. Loan repayments were all completed by
the same year, including World Bank loans, years ahead
of schedule. This said, the budget for Felda rose to a
“colossal” RM9.5 billion in 2004 (Ibid).
19 Esmang the average cost per Felda seler at RM30,000, Mehmet calculated that it would have cost the government RM23 billion to resele all poor
rural households in Malaysia at that me (Mehmet, 1982, p. 356). Put dierently, the Felda schemes only covered a small proporon of the rural poor.
20 Our data are drawn primarily from Lee and Bahrin, 2006, pp. 179-200.
43
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2B.4: Sources of Felda funding, 1990-2004 (RM million)
Federal
Govt
Via Federal Govt Rubber
Replanng
New
Rubber
Planng
Rural
Planning &
Misc. Fund
Total
World Bank Saudi Fund World Bank Grant Grant
1990 387.3 80.5 5.6 10.2 11.6 - - 495.2
1991 281.6 61.8 0.7 -13.3 - - 357.4
1992 344.0 16.6 - - 3.1 - - 363.7
1993 229.9 19.0 4.0 -20.4 - - 273.3
1994 233.2 ---24.8 - - 258.0
1995 202.2 ---21.6 - - 223.8
1996 169.3 ---18.9 - - 188.2
1997 171.3 ---22.3 - - 193.6
1998 137.2 ---11.7 - - 149.0
1999 27.0 ---6.3 - - 33.3
2000 1.3 ---10.8 - - 12.1
2001 27.4 ---13.0 9.3 -49.7
2002 54.3 ---4.8 31.3 -90.4
2003 22.6 ---10.0 117.5 7.0 157.1
2004 30.6 ---11.0 119.2 -160.8
Total 2319.2 177.9 10.3 10.2 203.6 277.3 7.0 3005.6
Note: The post seler period shows strong funding to Felda from the Federal government. From the early 2000s there is a major pick up in the
use of replanng grants, targeted towards Felda selers.
Source: 1962-1970 data from Bahrin and Lee, 1988, p.203 & 205; 1990-2004 data from Lee & Bahrin (2009, p. 196).
The World Bank in its evaluaon of the Jengka Triangle
Projects found that the main nancial lesson was that
for oil palm, the cost recovery rate was 98%, while for
rubber it was only 65% (World Bank, 1987, p. 61). In its
evaluaon of the Sahabat Scheme in Sabah, the Bank
found that the Economic Rate of Return (ERR) would
have been negave if the costs of construcon and
maintenance of access roads, village roads and water
works, i.e. necessary infrastructure, were factored into the
ERR. The weak CPO price and to a lesser extent low yields
accounted for the low ERR (World Bank, 1995, p. 15).
Felda Group – local economic linkages
Among the more signicant local and regional socio-
economic impacts of the Felda schemes, including the
Felda group of companies, have been its linkages with
the local economy. The introducon of the large-scale
regional approach to Felda, such as the Jengka and
Sahabat schemes, had economic mulplier eects on
the regional and local economy. Besides these two
major schemes, there were aempts to dovetail Felda
with state-driven urbanisaon programmes. One of the
more signicant of such programmes was the Johor
Tenggara project, jointly carried out with the Johor state
and parally funded by the World Bank. It (a) cleared
32,780 ha of land; (b) planted 26,304 ha of oil palms;
(c) built housing for 4,400 seler families and oces
and public buildings, such as schools and medical
facilies; (d) built ve palm oil mills; as well as (e)
roads and the provision of water. 10,200 people were
expected to nd permanent jobs through the project,
4,900 directly on the oil palm schemes, while 5,300
persons would ll the addional jobs created in villages
and nearby urban centres. 30,000 people were to be
supported by these jobs. The total cost of the project
was RM209.2 million (US$89.8 million) with Felda
expenditure for agricultural development, housing,
processing facilies, and management esmated to be
US$61.9 million. Direct Government expenditures for
roads, water supply, and public buildings were US$10
million (World Bank, 1974).
Most importantly, the various regional land schemes of
Felda developed a high level of what one analyst has
called the “vercal integraon” in Felda’s agribusiness
model. Using the Sahabat complex as his case study,
Suon (2001, p.102) suggests that this was part
of the larger “empire” of Felda with its complement
of companies located within Bandar Sahabat, such
as Plantaons Sahabat, Palm Industries Sdn Bhd,
Agricultural Services Sahabat, Trading Sdn Bhd, Security
Services, Engineering, Transport, Oil Products, Hotel
and Aerospray Sdn Bhd.
Felda schemes invariably led to the development of
semi-urban conurbaons and townships and could be
said to have generated a host of economic acvies
44
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
in their vicinies. At the end of 1990, some 18
“Adjoining Village Complexes,” comprising 83 schemes
had emerged. An example given of such a village
complex is that of the Besot Complex 20 km from
the town of Trolak in Perak. This complex involved
three schemes: Besot 1 (2,575 ha), Besot 2 (2,713 ha)
and Besot 3 (2,090 ha), each with 300-350 families
and located within a central village locaon. The
combined numbers necessitated the establishment
of a General Health Centre and some other common
facilies. Each selement typically had its own mosque,
clinic, kindergarten, retail shops, etc. However, such
complexes had their share of management and
coordinaon problems for the Federal Government. It
was clear “that the demand for services was not high
enough to generate the mul-faceted urban services
expected principally because of the uneconomical
duplicaon of services within a small area” (Lee and
Bahrin 2006, p. 81).
The larger “Urban Centre Complexes” enjoyed beer
economic scale and had fewer problems; according
to Lee and Bahrin they were a tool to link industry,
business and agriculture and stemmed the oulow of
the selers’ income. These complexes were populated
with 10,000-20,000 people and were developed in
conjuncon with state governments. These urban
complexes were based on its model of “Feldajaya”
townships which Felda has established across its
schemes. These townships are aimed in part at retaining
the second generaon of “Felda children” within the
Felda schemes by providing modern housing. The
townships also include community colleges and a wide
array of ulies and facilies catering to the second
generaon. Felda housing projects include low and
medium-cost houses. By 2005, land alienated for
such housing in Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and
Johor accommodated 2,046 medium-cost houses,
801 low-cost houses and 24 shops (Lee and Bahrin,
2006, p.92). An important development, in tandem
with Felda urban centres, has been the creaon of
townships by the Regional Development Authories
(RDAs) as early as the 1970s. These townships,
independent of Felda seler communies, were created
by KESEDAR (in Kelantan), KEDA (in Kedah), DARA
(in Pahang), KETENGAH (in Terengganu) and KEJORA
(in Johor). Lee and Bahrin (2006, p. 87) suggest the
RDA townships were less eecve economically than
Felda urban centres in part because there was “ser
compeon from outside businessmen than in the
protected environment” of the Felda conurbaons.
The Pahang Tenggara project, DARA, was the largest of
these aempts to create townships. The Master Plan
called for the development of 36 townships with a
total populaon of 450,000. Lee and Bahrin observed
that ulmately 23 townships were created but the
planned conurbaons were a “dismal failure” (p. 85).
Other commentators (Fu and Salleh, 1978) saw the
RDAs as something of an extension of the Felda-Jengka
concept while Federicks has suggested that, apart from
their land selement objecve, RDAs were more of an
instrument for rural-urban migraon (Federicks, 2012,
p. 56). A recent study by Hussin and Abdullah (2012)
examined the role of Felda and KESEDAR in raising the
standard of living of selers in Gua Musang in Kelantan,
but apparently found no major dierence between the
schemes.21
Felda Group – ancillary, upstream and downstream
acvies
From its modest beginning in 1956, the Malayan
government of that me could hardly have expected
Felda become the conglomerate it is today with a host
of vercally integrated upstream and downstream
companies. We focus on palm oil here, but the Felda
Group over me also developed integrated ancillary
companies in rubber, sugar and other vegetable oils.
Inially, Felda’s involvement in the commercial oil palm
sector was largely conned to downstream acvies
such as milling and processing but, from the 1980s
onwards, it ventured even into upstream acvies such
as ferliser supply. Felda’s upstream acvies were
clearly part of Malaysia’s import-substuon policy
and its downstream expansion part of its resource-
based export orientated industrialisaon (Lee & Bahrin,
2006, p. 144).22 The early investments had limited
objecves, among which was to help selers to invest
indirectly in enterprises related to their work. Felda’s
rst corporaon was the Stores Corporaon established
in 1968, which grew out of its Shops Division. This
corporaon became the Felda Trading Corporaon with
72 outlets and a turnover of RM211 million in 1987.
Next came Felda Markeng Corporaon (FELMA) in
which Felda selers held 30% of its shares. By the
1980s, FELMA was responsible for selling 99% of
Felda’s CPO locally and it set up oces in London
and San Francisco to sell in those markets. FELMA in
1986 began to sell rened palm oil. Another important
corporaon was the Felda Transport Corporaon, with
a eet of vehicles to handle palm oil products. By the
end of 1988, there were 13 corporaons in trading,
markeng, latex handling, mills, transport, security
services, agricultural services and construcon leading
to diversicaon into other downstream acvies such
as vegetable oils, sugar mills and food products.
21 The KESEDAR land scheme covered 779,637 ha of oil palm and rubber, and 3,500 selers on nine Felda schemes occupied 10,552 ha mostly of oil palm.
The authors concluded that income levels had been raised signicantly in the two types of schemes. Selers earned mostly between RM601 and RM1,200,
but the authors made no direct comparisons to determine which scheme fared beer. About 67% of selers sought secondary income outside farm work
(Hussin and Abdullah, pp. 289- 290).
22 We draw in this secon from Lee & Bahrin (2006, chapter 5, pp. 143-176) unless otherwise stated.
45
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Felda’s adopon of enhanced ‘privasaon’ in the
1990s saw a change in its corporate form. Corporaons
were converted to “companies” and by the mid-1990s
there were 25 companies in the Felda stable. Felda
Holdings Sdn Bhd was created in 1995 to oversee a
wide porolio of companies which had diversied into
shipping, insurance, informaon technology, property
development and construcon. Selers were involved
in this transformaon through their 51% share of Felda
Holdings via KPF (established in 1980), and this is
regarded as an important feature in delaying the full-on
privasaon of Felda as already noted in Part 1. Talib
(2009) states that it was in fact the strategy devised
by Raja Muhammad Alias (former chairman and civil
servant associated with Felda for some three decades
and its reputed architect).
Companies under the Felda Holdings umbrella, which
were all protable, were constantly subject to scruny
for possible privasaon. Raja Alias’ strong belief was
that prots from Felda’s acvies should stay with
the selers and sta, and not ow to businessmen
interested in privasaon gains. This led him to
GROUP CHAIRMAN
GROUP CHAIRMAN
FELDA Oil Products
Sdn. Bhd.
FELDA Johor
Bulkers Sdn. Bhd.
Joint Ventures
Producon
Mills
etc.
Transport
Computer Services
Services
Agricultural
Services
Trading
etc.
Corporaons
etc.
FELDA
Director General
Deputy Director
Zone 1
Pahang
etc.
Deputy Director
Zone 2
Negeri Sembilan
etc.
Assistant Director
General
Finance Lands
Engineering etc.
Manufacturing and TradingFELDA Schemes Sellers
Managing/Joint Managing DirectorDirector General
Operaons
Terengganu
Sabah
Pahang,East
Pahang, South
Jengka
Kelantan
Pahang, West
North
Negeri Sembilan West
Negeri Sembilan East
Melaka
Finance
Planning
Land Survey
Management Survey
Personnel
Engineering
Services Joint Ventures
FELDA Oil Products Pt. Ltd
FPG Oleo Chemicals Pt Ltd
FELDA Johor Bulkers Pt. Ltd.
Malaysia Cocoa.Mg Pt. Ltd.
FELDA Perlis Sugar Mill Pt.Ltd.
FPM Pt.Ltd.
Pasir Gudang-Green Tea Pt. Ltd
Corporate services
Rubber
Trading
Construcon
Security services
Compung services
Latex handling
Mills
Markeng
Palm kernel refinery services
Corporaons
Services Palm oil producon
Managing Director
(a)
(b)
Internal Audit Internal Audit
FELDA Plantaons Sdn. Bhd.
Internal Audit
devise the shareholding structure where 51% of Felda
Holdings was acquired by Koperasi Permodalan Felda,
whose membership was restricted to selers and sta
(Ibid, pp. 15-16).
Through parcipaon in Felda’s diversied investments,
KPF was able to declare dividends of 20% in 2012 and
15% in 2004, despite weak CPO prices. Informaon
in 2013 revealed that selers had beneted from an
average dividend yield of 14% over a 30-year period,
through their KPF stake. KPF enables its members to
pool their savings and invest in equity in companies
belonging to Felda and its benets reach all its members
who comprise selers and Felda Group employees
and the children of selers. According to KPF’s annual
report of 2013, it had 269,250 members (FGV, 2012
and KPF, 2013b).
In Malaysia, Felda is now the largest miller and rener
of palm related products, with 72 palm oil mills, 7
reneries and 10 rubber factories. By 2005, the
Felda Group had 26 subsidiaries, 9 joint ventures and
10 associated companies with a total investment of
RM868.1 million.
Diagram 2B.1: Felda organisaon chart, 1991 (a) and 1993 (b)
Source: Suon & Buang (1995, p. 128).
46
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Table 2B.5: Prots of Felda companies, 2002-2004 (RM million)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Felda Holdings Bhd 74,491 70.928 73,389 77,185 18,892
Subsidiary Companies
Felda Plantaons 179,247 108,675 129,840 139,000 120,335
Felda Palm Industries 29,181 30,440 47,019 47,426 45,454
Felda Agricultural Services 9,233 16,267 26,359 55,552 70,473
Felda Rubber Industries 23,591 6,679 14,248 276 11,758
Felda Rubber Products 48 3,230 7,123 9,998 14,446
Felda Trading 5,062 3,026 2,367 56,589 29,938
Felda Transport Services 16,526 18,168 10,484 11,794 10,152
Sutrajaya Shipping 10,465 11,609 4,257 4,871 40,064
Felda Engineering Services 10,308 10,522 10,634 12,862 9,497
Felda Prodata Systems 15,722 16,543 14,544 14,765 12,019
Felda Security Services 3,048 2,084 2,133 2,224 2,536
Felda Markeng Services 12,353 12,597 10,709 26,941 24,864
Felda Vegetable Oil Products 15,145 12,304 10,541 10,234 7,504
Felda Kernel Products 9,280 8,360 4,138 24 4,463
Delima Oil Products 6,792 7,006 3,256 1,851 14,150
Malaysia Cocoa Manufacturing 1,615 1,183 6,151 15,511 14,150
Felda Enterprises 22,626 6,343 12,910 19,443 13,617
Felda Construcon 656 1,212 1,521 1,983 2,433
Felda Properes 182 4 381 599 1,234
Felda Farm Products 213 341 1,197 1,507 1,461
Plantaon Resorts 110 260 166 179 493
Titar Travel 304 306 20 127 163
Pericon.Com 863 356 20 127 163
Felda Bulkers 16,178 16,686 15,061 11,348 11,657
Sub-total 388,748 294,201 335,079 445,231 463,024
Joint Ventures
Felda Johore Bulkers 24,235 24,306 28,538 28,382 32,040
Felda Oil Products 5,269 9,849 2,605 1,502 2,100
Felda Bridge Africa 1,333 1,305 671 870 1,302
Pasir Gudang Grains Terminal 1,291 987 1,192 1,444 1,432
Feltex 2,330 2,015 2,086 1,590 6,912
FPM 17,772 3,791 1,284 217 11,702
FPG Oleochemicals 109,125 182,868 127,318 118,288 102,989
Kilang Gula Felda Perlis 2,859 2,875 9,443 4,071 6,770
Felda Ekovest 999 433 318 4,933 1,253
Sub-total 165,213 228,429 173,455 161,297 166,500
Associate Companies
Kuala Muda Estates 4,186 407 86 5,910 582
Rex Metal Packaging 2,737 4,382 2,646 3,157 532
Taiko Clay Chemicals 45,076 45,801 38,875 27,123 9,700
Behn Meyer & Co 12,328 7,130 8,492 11,231 17,975
P.K. Educaon Ladang Tai Tak 0 2,955 3,933 4,144 5,603
Malaysian Pakistan Venture 728 1,090 652 591 1,444
47
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Boustead Oil Bulking 116 429 249 43 69
Voray Holdings Ltd 5,300 2,808 1,839 217 1,457
Royal & Sun Alliance 20,789 29,642 40,190 44,100 42,881
Sub-total 91,260 94,644 96,962 96,516 80,243
Prot before tax before
adjustment
635,363 598,320 595,938 572,339 536,583
Minus adjustment for minority
interests etc.
237,333 252,916 240,990 246,662 208,796
Prot before tax 398,030 345,404 354,948 325,677 327,787
Felda’s posion in the naonal palm oil sector
Based on data from FGV, the group is the world’s third
largest oil palm estate operator owning more than
450,000 hectares across Malaysia and Kalimantan,
Indonesia. It processes over 15 million tonnes of FFB
annually; 5 million tonnes from its own plantaons
and the balance from Felda selers and independent
suppliers (about 5 million tonnes, each). Beyond this, it
also produces over 3 million tonnes of crude palm oil
(CPO) annually from 72 palm oil mills.
In the context of Malaysia’s total of 5.4 million
hectares of planted oil palm at end 2014, FGV and
selers represent 13% of the total, while the other
state-led schemes accounted for 10% (Felcra, Risda,
state schemes / government agencies; MPOB, 2015).
Independent smallholders (those with less than 100
acres or 40.5 ha) accounted for 15%. Thus, the total
area outside the private estates sector was 38% of the
total, with an area of just over 2 million hectares.
Felda’s economic mulplier eect and business linkages
Currently Felda has 72 mills and sources roughly 1/3 of
FFBs from its own estates, 1/3 from Felda smallholder
schemes and 1/3 from external suppliers. It now has
41 mills cered under RSPO; the target is for all FGV
estates and Felda land schemes mills to be cered by
2017 (Interview with Norazam Abdul Hameed, FGV, 3
March 2015).
Felda played a key role in the development of plantaon
agriculture froners. For rubber and other tradional
smallholder crops like cocoa, relavely cheap backyard
basic processing is possible. For palm oil the processing
is more complex, capital intensive and me sensive. To
produce CPO of an acceptable quality, FFB has to be
milled within 24 hours of its harvest.
As a palm oil mill is a relavely costly facility23, the
expansion of oil palm smallholders is conngent upon
there being a mill nearby to which they can sell their
FFB output. In the case of Felda, its integrated and
well-funded programme ensured that a mill was built
alongside the oil palm seler plots. Large corporate
planters with the wherewithal would also do likewise.
However, for independent smallholders and small
producers to venture into planng oil palm, they would
need to know that there is a mill (owned by Felda, a
corporate plantaon or an independent mill owner) to
which they could sell their fruit.
As a key developer of rubber and oil palm in Malaysia’s
agricultural froner, Felda has not surprisingly played
a key role in facilitang the expansion of Malaysia’s
independent smallholder sector. Felda might inially
have installed a small oil palm mill of 15 or 30 tonnes
per day capacity to cater for the crop from its selers
(and its commercial estates). As with most mills, these
would oen have been designed to accommodate
expansion of their capacity to 60 tonnes or even more,
thereby enabling Felda palm mills to buy FFB from third
party suppliers. Thus, besides its role in developing
its own smallholders programme, it has also played a
key role in enabling the growth of other independent
smallholders and smaller private estates by buying and
processing their crop at its mills located throughout
Malaysia.
Inially, praccally all planng materials were sourced
from outside Felda but by 1981 Felda’s own subsidiary
(FASSB) supplied all the seeds, producing 15 million
seeds per year compared to a mere half a million in the
early years. Felda’s own nurseries then prepared high-
yielding seedlings. Ferlisers were the major inputs in
the growing stage, cosng RM300 million per year and
again it was FASSB that developed and supplied the
ferlisers (Lee & Bahrin, 2006, p.106). FASSB owns
2 ferliser factories, a rodencide factory, a clone
breeding laboratory, 2 oil palm seedlings laboratories
and 2 agricultural analysis laboratories (Ibid, p. 153).
Among others, two associate companies of Felda are also
involved in supplies, namely, Taiko Clay Chemicals Sdn
Bhd based in Batu Kawan, Penang, which sells acvated
bleaching earth and Behn Meyer & Co. (M) Sdn Bhd,
which sells ferlisers and agricultural chemicals.
23 Today, a 60 tonnes (FFB) per hour palm oil mill costs RM49.8m or nearly US$14 million (source: “CBIP bags RM49.8m palm oil mill contract” By Sulhi
Azman, theedgemarkets.com, 8 April 2015, hp://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/arcle/cbip-bags-rm498m-palm-oil-mill-contract, 8 April 2015).
48
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
The use of migrant labour in Felda schemes, parcularly
in plantaons, has not only increased over the years but
by the 2000s had become a necessity because of the
labour shortage that Malaysia faced in the plantaons
sector. As pointed out by Kaur (2014), Malaysia’s
plantaon system by the 1980s was one based on a
“guest worker” programme wherein the rst major legal
framework for migrant labour was established between
Malaysia and Indonesia in 1984 (Kaur, 2014, pp. 205-
207).
In a study of the labour regime of the oil palm industry
in Malaysia, Saravanamuu (2013) found that the
number of workers employed in the industry rose to
350,000 in 2007 at which me oil palms covered 4.3
million hectares, with an increase to 5.4 million by
2014. Indonesian workers formed the bulk of foreign
labour in oil palm estates (Saravanamuu, 2013, p.
124). Foreign plantaon labour totalled 504,159
persons in 2006, with Indonesia providing 64.4% of
all foreign workers in Malaysia that year. Indonesian
embassy data show that, of the 550,000 Indonesian
plantaon workers currently in Malaysia, 95% are in
the palm sector and about 80% of Malaysia’s palm oil
workforce are Indonesians.24
The Incorporated Society of Planters Malaysia esmates
that the total labour requirement on the country’s palm
plantaons with good management is 500,000 workers,
while 275,000 are needed in the 1.1 million hectares
of rubber plantaons. Labour shortage is parcularly
acute in Sabah and Sarawak, where Indonesian workers
earn only RM800 per month, the local minimum wage,
compared to the Peninsula where they earn RM900.25
According to Sarawak Oil Palm Plantaon Owners’
Associaon (SOPPOA) chairman Datuk Abdul Hamed
Sepawi, the main factors are the increasing compeon
from Indonesian plantaons coupled with a lack of
local labour willing to work in estates. He esmates
that Sarawak is 20-30% short of its needs. Meanwhile,
Sabah is increasingly dependent on labour from the
Philippines.26
In its downstream palm products, Felda Group’s core
business comprises the producon of oleochemicals,
biodiesel, oils, fats and fast moving consumer goods. Its
biodiesel renery produces cered palm methyl ester
for Malaysia as well as EU markets, the US and China.
Other products include cooking oil, margarine, instant
noodles, mayonnaise, creamer and peanut buer. Felda
is also Malaysia’s largest producer of rened sugar.27
Felda Markeng Services Sdn Bhd (which was originally
set up as FELMA or Felda Markeng Corporaon
in 1974) was handling the markeng of crude and
rened palm oil, palm kernels, latex examinaon gloves
and a host of downstream products. To market its
downstream products, FMSSB has set up joint venture
sales oces in Europe and the US. Of parcular interest
is the joint venture with the US company, Procter and
Gamble, which produces esters, fay alcohols and
glycerine in Tanjung Gelang, Kuantan. These products
are exported to many countries.
Felda Holdings Bhd Other businesses
Felda Technoplant
Sdn Bhd
FPM Sdn Bhd
MSM Malaysia
Holdings Berhad
Kilang Gula Felda
Perlis Sdn Bhd
Felda Global Ventures
Downstream Sdn Bhd
Felda IFFCO Sdn Bhd
Felda Global Ventures
North America Sdn Bhd
Felda Global Ventures
Plantaons Sdn Bhd
Felda Global Ventures
Plantaons (Malaysia)
Sdn Bhd
Felda Global Ventures
Kalimantan Sdn Bhd
Bunge ETGO L.P.
Associated Companies
Jointly-Controlled
Enty Companies
Bunge ETGO G.P. Inc
Twin Rivers Technologies
Manufacturing
Corporaon
Malayan Sugar
Manufacturing
Company Bhd
Felda Agricultural
Services Sdn Bhd
Felda -Johore
Bulkers Sdn Bhd
Astakonas Sdn Bhd MSM Properes
Sdn Bhd
Felda Palm
Industries Sdn Bhd
Felda Rubber
Industries Sdn Bhd
Felda Transport
Services Sdn Bhd
Felda Engineering
Services Sdn Bhd
FPG Oleochemicals
Sdn Bhd
Other businesses
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
40%
11%
100%
49% 49%
50%
100%
50% 90% 100% 100%
100% 100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100% 100%
76.9%
72.7%
72%
71.4%
51%
51%
100%
83%
67%
50%
Trurich Resources
Sdn Bhd PT Citra Niaga Perkasa
Twin Rivers Technologies
Holdings Inc
Twin Rivers Technologies Holdings
Entreprises de Transformaon de
Graines Oleagineuses du Quebec Inc
Delima Oil Products
Sdn Bhd
Felda Kernel
Products Sdn Bhd
Felda Vegetable Oil
Products Sdn Bhd
Felda Markeng
Services Sdn Bhd
Other businesses
Twin Rivers Technologies Holdings
Entreprises de Transformaon de
Graines Oleagineuses du Quebec Inc
Felda Global Ventures
Sugar Sdn Bhd
Malaysia Cocoa
Manufacturing Sdn Bhd
51%
Diagram 2B.2: Felda Global Ventures’ organisaon chart
Source: FGV, 2015.
24 hp://www.reuters.com/arcle/2014/04/27/us-palmoil-labour-idUSBREA3Q0P320140427; accessed 8 April 2015.
25 Malaysia introduced a minimum wage policy in January 2013 which required employers to pay monthly wages of RM900 on the Peninsula and RM800 in
Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan. hp://minimumwages.mohr.gov.my/employers/about-minimum-wages-policy/ (accessed 9 June 2015). However, there are compliants
that levies imposed on migrant workers can be deducted from wages.
26 hp://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2012/07/02/Workers-in-demand/?style=biz; accessed 8 April 2015
27 hp://www.feldaglobal.com/business_overview.php; accessed 8 April 2015
49
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Felda is now acve in the sugar sector. It is Malaysia’s
largest producer of rened sugar. Sugar is rened via
FGV-owned Malaysia Holdings Berhad (MSM), and its
two operang subsidiaries, MSM Prai Berhad (formerly
known as Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Company
Limited) and MSM Perlis Sdn Bhd (formerly known as
Kilang Gula Felda Perlis Sdn Bhd).28
Felda relies enrely on private contractors in the rst
phase of each scheme. According to Mehmet (1982,
p. 345), land clearing, planng, eld maintenance,
construcon of housing, and physical infrastructure,
are all done by contractors. “The selers are brought
into the scheme usually in the third year, well aer the
planng of the tree, but before they become producve
(aer four years in the case of oil palm; six years in the
case of rubber)” (Ibid). These development costs are
ulmately borne by the selers and deducted over the
15-year period of the repayment of their loans. Salleh
(1991, pp. 331-332) observed that selers themselves
became sub-contractors in the schemes. He notes that
Felda gave priority to selers to execute maintenance
contracts through the disbursements of loans. Malay
selers secured 21% of contracts in 1974 and 57.3%
in 1983, when these contracts totalled RM18.9 million.
In addion, specic types of contracts were reserved
for Felda selers, namely: (i) contracts cosng below
RM2,500 administered by regional controllers as “closed
quotaon tenders” and “work orders”; (ii) small contract
work (kerja borong kecil) cosng no more than RM2,500.
Salleh suggests that selers receiving such contracts
were able to augment their income by an average of
RM990 per month, up to four mes the salary of a
manager of a land scheme.
Of late, court cases iniated by Felda selers have
revealed some interesng facts about Felda private
contractors. In January 2011, 23 Felda selers from
the Felda Raja Alias 2 won a case against a Felda sub-
contractor, Huat Hing Rubberwood Sdn Bhd. The
selers wanted to appoint their own contractor to
do the clearing and succeeded in seng aside the
injuncon by Huat Hing to stop them from doing so.
Huat Hing inially had the contract to cut old rubber
trees for lumber but did not get the job directly from
the Felda management. Felda had appointed Felda
Sungai Dua Mulpurpose Cooperave Ltd., which sub-
contracted the job to Sheeco Sdn Bhd, which in turn
sub-contracted it to Huat Hing. It was going to pay
RM28,000 for clearing seven acres, but the selers said
they preferred to deal with another contractor, who had
oered them RM35,000 for the same job.29
The literature on Felda’s private contractors is sparse.
However, company reports, reveal some informaon
about the interlocking relaonship of businessmen
who have deep es with Felda. One of the Malaysian
family businesses that parcipated in works for Felda
is the Lim family (whose companies include Ekovest,
Iskandar Waterfront and PLS Plantaons). The co-
founder and Chairman of Ekovest Berhad is Tan Sri
Dato’ Lim Kang Hoo, a businessman with over 36 years
of experience in the construcon industry, including as
a contractor to Felda. He has also become one of the
earliest investors in the Iskandar Malaysia project. Lim’s
Iskandar Waterfront is the key owner of PLS Plantaons
Berhad, formerly known as Pembinaan Limbongan Sea
Berhad (a construcon company). In an apparently
enduring relaonship, Lim’s company is sll a private
contractor at Felda Sahabat. Among its published
completed construcon projects are RM113.4 million
for or related to Felda30 (out of 74 completed projects
with a value of RM 1.1 billion; PLS Plantaons, 2015).
These include nine projects in the Felda Sahabat area,
with two road construcon projects with a contract
cost of RM600,000 to RM900,000 per kilometre for a
main access road to a ring road. In its nancial report for
FYE 31 March 2014, the company indicated a 24% PBT
margin.
From these two case studies, one of a Felda rubber
replanng contractor dispute and the other of Felda
construcon contractor, we gain an impression of the
nature, number and value of contracts that have been
generated by the Felda schemes, which have a total of
over 800,000 hectares of plantaons and seler plots.
As noted earlier, for just the selers, the development
cost was RM6 billion for 120,000 seler families (in
1986 cost terms).
Thus, the economic mulpliers related to Felda and
businesses that have gained work from it are likely
to have been highly signicant. Malaysia has policies
to promote small Malay businesses and Felda has
encouraged entrepreneurial acvies among its seler
members.
28 hp://www.feldaglobal.com/business_sugar.php, accessed 7 April 2015
29 hp://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/naon/2011/01/31/felda-facing-deluge-of-suits/, 8 April 2015
30 In this sector, network connecons with Felda are common. The company appointed a former Felda staer. Dato’ Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Keling, to the PLS
Board in November 1994 aer he rered in 1993 as Director of the Management Services Department, Felda. He also sat on the Board of Felda Construcon
Bhd.
50
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Felda and socio-environmental policy
The funding of the Jengka Triangle project (1968-87)
and the Felda Sahabat project (1980-1995) by the
World Bank brought about a measure of environmental
and conservaon policy and actual implementaon of
conservaon objecves in the Sabah scheme. We draw
on the impact evaluaon report of World Bank (1987)
to describe the environmental impact of the Jengka
schemes (World Bank 1987, pp. 50-53).
It is notable that the land that was developed is referred
to as “tropical forest” and even “forest reserve” is
menoned. However, details of the nature of these
forests, whether primary or secondary (logged over) or
other types of forest are not indicated in either Felda
ocial histories or in the World Bank loan papers. One
of the few details oered is an esmate of 7 million
tons of mber to be harvested from the site of the
Jengka 2 project (details below).
According to the World Bank 1987 report, there was
no evidence that the Jengka projects contravened
exisng Malaysian legislaon on conservaon and
wildlife protecon. However, it nonetheless indicated
that the project did have negave impacts. The Bank’s
evaluaon found that the clearing of the forested area
in Jengka had resulted in almost all species of forest
animals becoming rarer. Large mammals which lost their
tradional habitat included about 24 elephants, 40
forest ox and 5 Sumatran rhinos, all these species being
protected by law. The projects, through deforestaon,
also had a negave impact on freshwater sh, but
since no inventory for the area was made against which
present condions can be compared, it was not possible
to ascertain the eects of turbidity and increase in
temperature.
Conversely, wildlife have had a signicant impact
on the projects’ development: elephants alone were
responsible for the destrucon of nearly 79,000
young oil palms, equivalent to an area of 530 ha and
cosng over RM300,000 to replant. The 13 elephants
responsible were pocketed in the eastern forest
reserve and, faced with habitat loss, had ventured into
the newly-planted areas of oil palm. In addion to
replanng costs, the game department spent almost RM
1 million capturing these elephants which were then
sent to other reserves.
In the earlier report of 1970 on the second Jengka
Triangle Project, there was more candid discussion of
deforestaon, which was part of the Forestry Project
within this scheme. The report noted “The Jengka
Triangle Project for which the loan will be made consists
of the clearing of about 33,000 acres of tropical forest,
the planng of nearly 28,000 acres of oil palms and
the selement of about 2,800 rural families over a
four-year period.” The report noted that there would
be a forest industry complex to extract, process and
market lumber from the Jengka Triangle and aer the
mid-1970s from the adjacent Tekam, Berkelah and Takai
forest reserves.”31
It was also reported that “Because the forestry potenal
was not exploited sasfactorily in Jengka I, part of the
second project was the Jengka Forestry Programme
that would be carried out by Sharikat Jengka Sendirian
Berhad (SJSB).” This would entail exploitaon in 70,000
acres of permanent forest in the Triangle itself, 65,000
acres of Tekam, 96,000 acres of Tekai, and 139,000
acres of Berkelah Reserve forests” (Ibid).
The Department of Orang Asli Aairs stated that
about 110 families of tribal peoples, a total of about
330 people, were aected by the Jengka projects,
with about 75 Orang Asli actually being displaced
from an area now occupied by scheme 6. The Semoq
Beri tribe, which constute the majority of the
Orang Asli aected by these Jengka projects, live
tradionally in individual family houses rather than
the long houses like other groups, and so selement
in villages is not a considerable change for them. No
Orang Asli parcipated in the Jengka scheme, instead,
provision was made for their reselement nearby and
compensatory land was provided.
Locaon of mills was not regulated at the me of
project implementaon but Felda’s mills were sited
relavely far o their water source. This was benecial
in that the raw euent, by having to travel a similar
distance and oen being discharged into a swamp, then
had a lower biological oxygen demand (BOD). Since
the introducon of the Environmental Quality Act in
1974, Felda has taken steps to ensure that the BOD
of the euent from its exisng palm oil mills has been
progressively reduced in keeping with the guidelines.
Six of the palm oil treatment plants in the Jengka area
became fully operaonal in 1982, two in 1983 and one
each in 1984 and 1985. The seler survey revealed that
selers perceived the rivers in Jengka to be polluted.
However aer invesgaon, the mission concluded that
no evidence was available to support this contenon.
One incident of raw euent being discharged from a
private mill occurred in 1974 and similar events have
also been reported from near Sungai Pahang, but none
have been reported in Jengka itself. Nor are there
indicaons of ferliser being leached into the rivers:
water quality measurements undertaken in 1977-1979
revealed that there was lile evidence of inorganic
31 hp://www.worldbank.org/projects/P004220/jengka-triangle-project?lang=en, accessed March 2015.
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nutrients in the water, well within the guidelines for
drinking water in developed countries. Pescides have
been used, but now only in very low quanes with
natural control being the preferred method.
In Sabah, a conscious implementaon of a conservaon
policy was implemented (World Bank, 1995, pp. iv-
vi). The project was launched aer an Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed in February
1988 which called for the implementaon of the Dent
Peninsula Environmental Management Plan (EMP) in
tandem with the Felda Sahabat scheme. The World
Wide Fund for Nature, Malaysia (WWFM) was assigned
to dra the proposal and completed the EMP in May
of the same year. Suon (2001, pp. 97 -98) menons
that a private consulng company, MINCONSULT,
had recommended the retenon of forest areas. The
implementaon of the EMP was considered to have had
a substanal instuonal impact.
Key objecves aained included: (a) full-me sta of
the Sabah Wildlife Department based at Tabin Wildlife
Reserve with responsibilies for the Kulamba Wildlife
Reserve. An Ecotourism Plan developed by the WWFM
for the 7th Malaysia Plan was to be implemented in the
Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Licensed logging in Tabin ceased
in 1992 and illegal logging was reduced to occasional
incursions. Illegal
hunng was also much beer controlled. Aerial and
other surveys in 1994 show signicant regeneraon
of logged-over areas and an abundance of wildlife;
(b) an amendment to strengthen exisng legislaon
for wildlife sanctuaries was transformed into a more
comprehensive and funconal Wildlife Conservaon
Enactment; and (c) the Sabah Conservaon Strategy
has provided guidelines and an operaonal framework
for the sustainable management of Sabah’s natural
resources. The Tabin Wildlife Reserve (TWR) (120,000
ha), the largest forest area in Sabah (and in Borneo),
was established specically for the protecon of
wild breeding populaons of the Asian elephant
(Elephas maximus), the Asian two-horned rhinoceros
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and the wild cale (Bos
javanicus), known locally as banteng or tembadau.
Gazeed in March 1984 under forest legislaon,
TWR had previously been commercial forest reserve
selecvely logged for large dipterocarp trees for export.
Aer gazeng, commercial logging had connued in all
parts of the Reserve except in a “Core Area” of 8,616
hectares, which had no special legal status but was
retained as a sanctuary for rhinos and other mammals
displaced by logging in surrounding areas, as well as a
source of plants and animals to regenerate neighbouring
forest aer logging. Also located in the Dent Peninsula
north of Tabin are the Kulamba Wildlife Reserve (KWR)
(20,682 ha), the Kuala Segama and Kuala Maruap Forest
Reserve (24,000 ha), and the nipa swamp state land
set aside for sheries. Tabin and Kulamba are the only
wildlife reserves in the State of Sabah.
In contrast to the rather posive rendering of the
success of conservaon and environmental protecon
in the World Bank assessment, there has been a
suggeson by Suon (2001, p. 102) that the switch
from a seler approach to that of establishing
plantaons based on Felda’s new agribusiness model
revived issues raised by its consultants, MINCONSULT
and WWFM: “Steep slopes appear to have been planted
with oil palm and the recommendaons by the WWF to
stop clearing forest aer Sahabat 31, i.e. aer the rst
53,586 ha, unl sasfying the Sabah Government on
various environmental issues (sic), seem to have been
ignored”. He also menons that tall Mengaris and Ara
trees were not spared and Sahabat 27 and 28 were
developed rather than preserved as forest reserves (Ibid).
Other wildlife reserves in Sabah also exist, but are not
covered in the above review that is focussed on the
context of Felda’s expansion in the state.
The Felda seler schemes were developed over three
or more decades of low awareness or concerns with
conservaon while the period of the 1990s saw Felda
develop plantaons with an eye towards preserving
some level of the environment and human ecology.
However, in the post-2000s the culvaon and
expansion of monocultures such as oil palm came
under severe cricism for its negave environmental
and social impacts. Escalang NGO campaigns,
parcularly from Europe, have reined in the prospects
for untrammelled oil palm expansion in Indonesia and
Malaysia, especially by large plantaon groups under
the public gaze. These large groups also face regulatory
(Indonesia) and land availability ceilings (Malaysia ex-
Sarawak). Large corporate growers have acceded to
NGO pressures, as these have resulted in high-key
boycos by the likes of Unilever and Nestlé. Many
large companies have signed on as members of the
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil). Mul-naonal
consumer brands are being persuaded to change their
buying policies, with potenal global implicaons.
Strategies to ignore or deny problems in oil palm
sustainability have not worked well and biodiversity and
a host of “sustainability” issues dominate the discursive
terrain of the industry today. (Khor, 2013, pp. 102-103).
The campaigns of the 1980s into the 1990s were
focused on health fears purportedly caused by tropical
oils. This was ulmately disproved. The current
campaign is of a dierent character altogether. It is
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symbolised by the orang-utan, a highly emove subject.
This me, industry observers reckon that there will
be no return to ‘business as usual’. Indonesia and
Malaysia, as well as other would-be palm oil producers,
must engage with the new global environmental lobby
as nanciers have become persuaded to be wary of
funding oil palm developments. Unlike in the past, the
World Bank Group suspended funding for the sector for
a while, but is resuming support for sustainable palm oil
projects (Ibid).
The RSPO is based largely on the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC), also iniated by the WWF. It is WWF’s
strategy to establish industry roundtable programmes
for 15 commodies that pose environmental threats
such as deforestaon, soil loss, water use and pescide
use to key global locaons. WWF’s goal is to “reach the
100 companies that will control 25% of the trade of
each. If these companies demand sustainable products,
they’ll pull 40-50% of producon. Companies can push
producers faster than consumers can.”32
Felda, as we know, has adjusted to the new socio-
polical environment and taken on the responsibility of
ensuring RSPO cercaon in stages. As early as 2004,
Felda accepted the noon of “sustainable palm oil
producon” and adversed this in a glossy publicaon
(Felda, 2004). As we noted earlier, the head of the
sustainability division of FGV inmated that RSPO
cercaon by 2017 would be targeted for all Felda
plantaons (Norazam, 2015).
We examined the Felda Sahabat complex as an example
of a recent RSPO cercaon report. This reveals the
following facts: Kilang Sawit Felda Baiduri Ayu is a palm
oil mill (POM) with capacity of 54 tonnes per hour.
“The supply bases are the FFB sources to the POM:
3 estates (FGVPM Sahabat 09/15, FGVPM Sahabat
16 and FGVPM Sahabat 55) owned by Felda and 2
estates (Felda Sahabat 1 and Felda Sahabat 2), which
are owned by organised smallholders under the Felda
Selers’ Scheme. There were other plantaons/estates
which also supplied FFB to the POM, viz., FASSB 6
and FASSB 9 (under the Felda KKS Mercu Puspita
grouping which has not yet been cered) and Outside
Crop Producers...Area Summary, Jan – Dec 2013,
Cered Area: 7,450.49 ha.” 33 Within this part of the
vast Sahabat complex, it is notable that there is a small
conservaon area of 70 ha (comprising buer zones
along small streams, hilly areas, swampy and unplantable
areas) and no high conservaon (HCV) areas.
In terms of suppliers of FFB, about 75,000 tonnes
comes from FGV estates, 1,500 tonnes from selers’
schemes, 8,400 tonnes from other FGV yet (to-be-
cered) estates and about 100,500 tonnes from
outside crop producers (which comprise the major part
of a non-cered supply). The non-cered supply
to Kilang Sawit Felda Baiduri Ayu is expected to drop
from 57% in 2012 to 47% in 2014. As a result, it is not
surprising that FGV has selected an RSPO mass balance
supply chain opon for this mill, given its large external
FFB supply source.
Given the important role that FGV palm oil mills play in
processing private sector and independent smallholder
crop, it can be ancipated that these mills will have
to start with and remain with RSPO mass balance
cercaon for quite some me. This viewis conrmed
by FGV’s head of sustainability and quality management
who points to its aggregate level “⅓ : ⅓ : ⅓” sourcing
reality of Felda’s own plantaon crops, smallholder
crops and external crops (Norazam, 2015). Mass
balance is deemed a lower eort and therefore lower
value level of eco-cercaon. In the case of FGV and
its Felda smallholder clients, their choice of cercaon
level is less by choice than by necessity.
32 hp://www.ted.com/talks/jason_clay_how_big_brands_can_save_biodiversity.html, accessed April 2015
33 Intertek Cercaon Internaonal Sdn Bhd (2013).
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Summary
• From its modest beginnings in 1956 with its
seler schemes, the Felda Group of companies
now sit at the commanding heights of
Malaysia’s palm oil industry.
• Felda’s development as an integrated
agribusiness eventually catapulted it onto
the global stage. Felda, as an instuon,
especially in the early years, showed strong
polical will and focused on delivering incomes
to selers with some, if not unqualied,
success. There is some evidence that in the
employment of private contractors, it would
not bow to Bumiputera procurement policies
when their capability in the early days might
have compromised the development of the
schemes and produce palm oil of export
quality. However, Felda did try to maintain
some “ethnic balance” in the later years in the
procurement of contracts, the government-
linked MARA being one of the beneciaries.
Felda was clearly an enabler for independent
smallholder and small private estates, with its
rst-mover advantage, supplying fruit to its
palm oil mill in its processing facility in its area
since it was well funded relave to private
sector plantaons in the early years. Along
with implemenng NEP objecves, Felda
adopted a state developmentalist approach
which generated economic mulpliers for
private and Felda contractors in infrastructural
development necessary for the success of the
schemes.
• On the socio-environmental policy front,
Felda engaged mostly in green-eld froner
developments in tropical forest zones. In
the inial years, the current conservaon
versus development debate was non-existent,
but over a period of me concerns with
conservaon and local indigenous populaons
became more evident.
• FGV is currently the world’s third largest
oil palm estate operator, owning more
than 450,000 hectares across Malaysia
and Kalimantan, Indonesia, processing over
15 million tonnes of FFB annually from its
own plantaons and from Felda selers
and independent suppliers. Being a very
large supplier of CPO and its new global
outlook, FGV’s moves are eyed for its eorts
in sustainable palm oil. Like most large
companies, FGV is part of the WWF-iniated
RSPO. In the post-2000 world, “sustainability”
has increasingly dominated the discourse of
tropical monocultures, especially palm oil.
To its credit, Felda has adjusted to the new
socio-polical environment and taken on the
responsibility of ensuring RSPO cercaon
in stages with RSPO cercaon by 2017
targeted for all FGV mills. This will likely
make it the biggest grower supplier of such
cered products. In its Sustainability Report
(FGV 2013), it also reports that it is adopng
tougher approaches than required under the
RSPO, including a promise not to develop
estates on peat land.
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In this nal secon, we provide a synthesis and
evaluaon of the Felda case study. It is parcularly
important to point out that the Felda enterprise was a
smallholder-centric land development programme that
has evolved over nearly 60 years. Its most intensive
period as a smallholder-oriented scheme was from the
late 1950s ll 1990.
One of the project’s primary goals was to raise incomes
of landless farmers. While very few selers had no
income prior to entering the Felda schemes, 40.1% of
the incoming selers across all Felda schemes had a
monthly income of RM100 or less, and 85.4% had an
income of less than RM200. Only 7.8% had an income
of RM200-RM300 a month, with 0.2% having an
income above RM500. (Bahrin, Perera & Lim, 1979, p.
203).
Felda delivered impressive outcomes on primary
incomes. Designed to secure a RM300 minimum
monthly income, the scheme showed average naonal
seler net monthly incomes from oil palm plots in
1979-2005 (excluding costs of labour) as follows:
4.1 ha, RM857; 4.9ha, RM905 and 5.7 ha, RM1,166
(Bahrin and Lee, 2006, p.37). In 2014 net incomes
were esmated to be RM1,800 from 4 ha oil palm plots
enrely outsourced to Felda Technoplant and allowing
for labour costs (Barlow, 2015a).
Key outcomes and policy changes since the start of the
project are summarised in Tables 3.1 and 3.2.
Part 3: Synthesis and Evaluaon
Evaluaon
In our evaluaon, we draw lessons from the literature
review of the Felda seler programme in terms of
present expectaons of oil palm area expansion under
sustainability regimes. Some of the specic lessons to
be drawn ow from addressing the following quesons:
• How did the Felda schemes evolve, and what did and
didn’t work well for the selers?
• What relaonships did Felda establish as a social
enterprise with its major stakeholders, which
included the selers, the state governments and
internaonal funding agencies?
• What mechanisms worked eecvely? How eecve
were individual land plots, the block system and the
share system as management tools?
• How did selers remain relevant and parcipate in
the corporasaon of Felda?
We will focus on the answers to the following key
quesons:
• Expectaons regarding the future from the
perspecve of stakeholders
• Negave and posive outcomes at the micro-
economic and instuonal levels
• The most relevant socio-economic impacts for
stakeholders
• Instuonal mechanisms that worked for
smallholders
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Table 3.1: Felda key data and facts
Felda seler and selement Felda instuonal
In 2014, 479,765 hectares of smallholder areas were under
Felda. On average, 4 hectare smallholding and 0.1 hectare for
house and kitchen garden. About 80% of Felda seler areas
in the Malaysian states of Pahang, Johor and Negeri Sembilan
(only very small seler areas in East Malaysia).
From 1959 – 1990, more than 850,000 ha of land granted by
state government under Group Selement Area Act 1960 had
been brought under culvaon through Felda operaons. By
1990, Felda had 317 selement schemes and 152 commercial
estates.
About 122,000 rural Malay seler families emplaced (est. 4%
of the 1990 populaon; Khor, 2012). 85.4% of selers had an
income of less than RM200 when entering the Felda program
(1979). Project was designed to inially target RM300 minimum
monthly income. Naonal seler net monthly income from
oil palm plot (1979-2005 average): 4.1 ha, RM857; 4.9ha,
RM905 and 5.7 ha, RM1,166 (excluding labour cost); esmated
RM1,800/month from 4ha oil palm in 2014 (including labour
cost).
By nancial year ended 1999, Felda had spent RM8.9 billion on
land development and selements, nanced by RM4.9 billion
(or 54.8)% as loans and the rest as grants. By this me, Felda
had repaid RM3.2 billion principal and RM1.4 billion interest on
loans (Felda, Annual Report FYE 1999). World Bank loans stood
at RM542.8 million at FYE1999, other sizable loans were from
the Saudi and Kuwait Funds (RM119.0 and RM56.8 million),
the Overseas Economics Cooperaon Fund and the Asian
Development Bank. Nearly all loans were through the Federal
Government.
Each selement has 300-500 selers (average 350) with 15-25
sta per selement (with over one-third of selement sta for
community development). Each Felda selement ranges from
1,400 to 2,500 hectares.
Felda smallholders and FGV have over 700,000 ha of oil palm
in Malaysia; producing over 3 million tonnes of CPO (17% of
Malaysia’s output from 13% of the area in 2014). The next
biggest oil palm areas in the country are owned by Sime Darby
with 650,000 ha and IOI with 320,000 ha (Anon. ZAZ, 2015).
FGV is the third largest oil palm plantaon operator in the world
and the largest CPO producer in the world.
To join, a Felda seler had to be married and preferably have
children. On average they had 4.8 children.
Felda Group (now FGV) has 355,864 ha of commercial estates
(under 99-year lease to FGV; as of 25 February 2015 oil palm
planted area was 289,864 ha), 71 palm oil mills (Malaysian total
is 442 mills), 7 reneries, 4 palm kernel crushing plants and 6
bulking installaons. FGV’s Malaysia crop area 340,142 ha area
(2014) and it has interests in about 80,000 ha in Indonesia.34
FGV’s owners include: Felda Land Development Authority 20%,
Felda Asset Holdings 13.7%, PNB 9.06%, Tabung Haji 7.79%,
with other Malaysian enes such as KWAP, EPF, Pahang
and Sabah state governments also holding shares. Naonal
Associaon of Qatar owns 2.2% and 20% more are held by
others (FGV, 27 February 2015).
By the nal year (1990), cost per seler RM51,241 /
US$18,978 (land was granted for free); 25 years later the
nominal cost has likely doubled. Loan amount was about 66% of
total per seler cost. Interest rate was 6.25% inially, but was
lowered later on.
Amenies and facilies in seler’s villages (new communies in
isolated and new environments), included retail stores, petrol
kiosks, police staons, schools, mosques, community halls,
shrub-lined roads, cooperaves, markets, bus staons, re
staons, health clinics, women’s associaons, public libraries,
government reserves, youth clubs and public playgrounds.
Note: Summary informaon from literature review from Part 2A and Part 2B of this report; with data from FGV (2014) and FGV (2015) unless
otherwise stated.
34 Felda Global ventures upstream in Indonesia, 10 July 2013, The Sun Daily, hp://www.thesundaily.my/news/765858 (accessed 20 April 2015)
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Table 3.2: Felda key outcomes and policy evoluon, 1950s to 2010s
1950s Jungle clearing contracted out but selers carried out
ground preparaon and house construcon (1958).
Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) was
established as a statutory body via an act of Parliament in
1956 as a key part of a naon-building, rural development
program. It was an aempt to move away from the Brish
colonial plantaon model and also sought to break from
reliance on middlemen. Key role of Prime Minister Tun
Razak in Felda’s development (his son, current premier
Najib Razak led the recent restructuring push, FGV IPO and
KPF asset sales). Other key Felda managers include Raja
Alias and Alladin Hashim.
Integrated development to oer full social services, with
key ministries as partners: Infrastructure, roads, water
supply, electricity, health services provided by relevant
ministries.
Goal: Alleviang poverty among the landless and raising
incomes beyond subsistence level, with integrated
developments in undeveloped rural areas, largely to help
rural Malays.
Key schemes developed: Ayer Lanas (1958). Bilut Valley
(1959).
Method: Establishing 4 ha agro-industrial commodity crop
(rubber, cocoa, sugar; later switching mostly to oil palm)
smallholdings and a home with eventual ownership of
individual land tle; with a 15-year loan. Land as alienated
by state-level land development boards (Kelantan,
Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan,
Kedah and Perlis).
1960s Felda contracts all groundwork and house building to
third party contractors in all schemes (end of 1960) due
to problems arising in earlier schemes e.g. inexperience of
selers in land preparaon and home building etc.
Felda started to plant oil palm (1961).
Felda introduces daily rate instead of monthly subsistence
allowance (1962). “Block method” of working the schemes
introduced (1962), instead of working on individual plots.
In 1960, Malaysia had 54,634 hectares under oil palm, and
in 1965, 96,947 hectares, where Felda’s oil palm area was
11,093 ha (11.4%).
Minister of Rural Development review of seler loan
repayment results in reducon of selers’ loan amount; to
cover agriculture development of smallholding and cost
of house. Infrastructure development and management
and administraon subsidized / borne by the state (1960).
Eecvely, this cuts the loan amount from the full per
seler development cost (see 1976 for cost example).
First formalised selecon system of selers created (1961).
Integrated approach of Felda organizaon, with regional
development plans with Jengka as rst, then Johor
Tenggara and Sahabat as mul-selement regions. Key
schemes developed: Jengka Triangle, Pahang, project
(1968-1982), 9,200 smallholders and 40,000 hectares;
28,138 families on 112,716 hectares in Johor Tenggara.
Sahabat schemes targeted 103, 000 ha for development
but only managed to inially sele 925 families on 5,700
hectares.
Timber complex established for logging alongside Jengka
project (mber concessionaire / beneciaries include
Canadian mber company and MARA).
Sourcing funding from internaonal agencies such as the
World Bank (including 8 loans amounng to US$231.1
million, disbursed from 1968-1985; including three loans
for Jengka - 1968, 1970 and 1973 - amounng to US$52
million).
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1970s Block system of management was operang with 20
selers per block (1970).
Developing more froner lands in Peninsula states,
comprising tropical forests and swamps. 1970, Malaysia
had 300,607 ha of oil palm and Felda 64,992 ha (21.6%).
1975, Malaysia had 642,000 ha and Felda 181,571 ha
(28.3%).
Seler wife must be present during interview for selecon
to the schemes (1974).
Johor Tenggara project (1974-1982) iniated with
associated mber complex to benet of Johor state.
28,138 selers and 145,408 hectares.
The cost of reseling one family was RM 26,600
(1976). Eecvely cuts loan amount from a per seler
development cost of RM 26,600 to RM17,700 (67% of
development cost) ? Interest rate was 6.25%.
By the 1970s, 2,700 selers parcipated in Village
Development Councils (JKKR) numbering 290 by
1987. Through their JKKRs, selers were able to get
representaon in decision-making on Felda boards.
1980s Share Ownership System aempted in all Felda schemes
(1985) but selers preferred individual land ownership.
Income Stabilisaon Scheme tried in four dierent oil palm
schemes but withdrawn due to unpopularity (1980).
In 1980, Malaysia’s oil palm area was 1,023,306 ha and
Felda had 308,118 ha (30.1%); in 1987, the totals were
1,556,920 ha and 497,084 ha (31.9% of total) respecvely.
The full cost of reseling one family was RM 49,760
(1986), with infrastructure and management costs at RM
17,094 (vs RM 8,900 in 1976, remaining at about 33% of
the total) and seler plot and house lot cost at RM 32,396
(vs RM17,700 in 1976).
Seng up the Felda cooperave-run Koperasi Permodalan
Felda (KPF) with 51% ownership of key company, Felda
Holdings Bhd (1980). Regarded as part of “chess game”
that would stave o the rapid privazaon of Felda
commercial companies (Anon. ALR, 2015).
Low commodity prices caused one of the lowest loan
repayment collecon rates (1986). Naonal average seler
net income was RM 376 per month in 1986.
Developing East Malaysia froner lands (Sahabat and other
schemes on Dent Peninsula) for oil palm plantaons in
Sabah (mostly commercial plantaons, but eventually with
1,659 selers, with smallholding size around 6 ha). Sahabat
development area (1988-1997) was 90,000 hectares.
KPF oers organisaonal parcipaon of selers in
the wider Felda Group. Each seler and scheme level
cooperaves join KPF as unit holders with inial units given
to them. It is essenally an early-stage or private equity
investment opportunity.
Forest conservaon project set up along with Sahabat with
input from WWF Malaysia and World Bank assistance.
Felda oil palm areas account for 30% of Malaysia total.
1990s Last intake of selers (1990). Due to lack of interest in land reselement (Malaysia was
enjoying strong GDP growth with rapid industrialisaon
and urbanisaon), the remaining areas alienated to Felda
were developed as Felda commercial estates. Eventual
areas developed commercially were over 350,000 ha. From
the 1990s (the corporate era) the growth of plantaon
companies was at the forefront in Malaysia as well as
Indonesia (especially from the 2000s with regulaons for
20% smallholder development).
The average cost of reseling one family was RM 51,241
(1990).
Agribusiness phase of Felda also saw the growth of
more service and downstream companies, including
joint ventures, notably one with Procter & Gamble for
oleochemicals in Kuantan. Felda Group grew into a
conglomerate with 26 subsidiaries, 9 joint ventures and 10
associated companies.
Selers may earn an esmated RM1,315 net income and
RM2,153 gross income per month in Bukit Wa Ha, Johor
(1999).
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2000s Satu Wilayah Satu Industri / One Region One Industry
(SAWARI) project launched to promote entrepreneurial
acvies among selers (2003). Up to RM4.4 million
turnover generated from SAWARI acvies (September
2004).
Between 1975 – 2000, Felda had wrien o seler debts
totalling RM311.7 million. The Felda Oil Palm Replanng
Fund stood at RM759 million (2006). This is a major period
of replanng for smallholder estates.
Naonal average seler net income was RM 1,387 per
month in 2004.
Felda sustainability policies published in 2004. Felda joins
RSPO as a member on 17 October 2004.
2010s Selers get an RM15,000 one-o payment linked to FGV
IPO and an average 800 shares each in FGV (Khor, 2012).
Felda smallholder and FGV oil palm areas account for
13% of Malaysia total area of 5.4 million hectares (MPOB,
2015). Major period of replanng for FGV commercial
estates. 171,000 ha needs to be rapidly replanted: at
15,000 ha per year indicated, this would take nearly 11.5
years (Khor, 2012).
770 selers sued Felda for unfair fruit grading in Kuantan
High Court and won (2012).
The public lisng of FGV in 2012 with an IPO lisng
(second to Facebook in amount raised, year to date that
year). Focus on upstream investments outside of Malaysia
and consolidang full ownership and control of key Felda
Group processing assets.
KPF gave selers and sta dividends averaging 14% pa
for 30 years to 2013; it had 220,000 members of whom
112,635 were selers (FGV, 2012).
KPF’s role arguably greatly reduced as it sells key assets to
FGV (and loses its 51% ownership control over them) and
shis more to public equies and property investments
(KPF, 2013). Controversies have arisen with these moves.
Recent investment balances were sll only around 7,673
units35 each (KPF, 2013b). Expectaons of lower returns
around 10% pa now that key assets sold and holding FGV
shares and other porolio investments (Anon. ALR, 2015).
These two major corporate acons, “cut the cord” linking
Felda selers with key Felda Group corporaons as they
reorient. FGV is a government-linked corporaon looking
outside Malaysia for growth and seeks to enhance its
Malaysia earnings by replanng its aged commercial estates
and boost mill and processing earnings.
Selers outsourcing work to Felda Technoplant may
earn an esmated RM1,800 per month in 2014 (a site
in Jengka, Pahang). Technoplant does all harvesng and
maintenance, catering for over 80% of selers who are
completely rered; also arranges and supervises replanng
by contractors (Barlow, 2015b).
Note: Summary informaon from literature review from Part 2A and Part 2B of this report.
35 KPF had 269,250 members of whom 88.5% or 238,367 are in the “seler” category. Knowing that around 112,635 are actual selers and so 125,732 are
“other selers” likely being selement cooperaves and perhaps seler children too. Given that RM1,829 million or 72.4% of the total shares are held by the
“seler” category, the average holding is RM7,673.
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Expectaons in next decade from the
perspecve of Felda (as a stakeholder)
From the viewpoint of its main stakeholders, the Malay-
dominated central state, the state governments and the
farmers, Felda could be said to have certainly achieved
its original objecves and perhaps became something of
a model rural development programme for the melding
of social objecves and economic goals, along with its
polical dividend of delivering support to the ruling
party. However, the scheme has ulmately suered
from the problem of ageing selers and a transion
to the second generaon as shown in Part 2A of this
report. A prevalent cricism of Felda was also that it
created an overly dependent seler.
Several important lessons to be drawn from the
Felda case study are: the importance of a holisc
and integrated approach to rural development, the
imperave of strong instuonal support by the state,
the partnership of the government with global agencies,
the support of the local governmental authories and
eecve cooperaon with the private sector. These
lessons will be important for any rural development
programme in other parts of the world.
The Felda project is at a stage where the selers’
programme is more than mature, and the impetus
of privasaon and globalisaon has resulted in
a policy to move another Malaysian government-
linked corporaon, FGV, onto the internaonal arena.
Meanwhile, the Felda social instuons are sll in place
and FGV is linked to Felda Technoplant (a newer unit
within the Felda statutory board), which can undertake
all the maintenance and harvesng of oil palm,
catering to 80% of selers who are now fully rered.
Technoplant relies on Indonesian migrant labour (paying
them RM1,200-1,500 per month with incenves). Its
technical and managerial skills have resulted in good
yields of 22 tonnes of FFB per hectare (Barlow, 2015b).
From the Felda case study, one can draw conclusions
about the potenal for similar
state-driven, socially oriented developmental
enterprises. We are in an age in which corporaons
dominate agro-industrial producon of oil palm and
other crops. It is unlikely that seler-centric schemes
such as Felda would today achieve the support it
enjoyed in the past.
Socio-economic outcomes for stakeholders at
seler and instuonal levels
From the seler and instuonal perspecves, the
primary goal of Felda, which was poverty eradicaon
and raising incomes by reseling landless peasants, was
a major success. The Federal state as stakeholder was
the major beneciary along with landless selers. Our
key nding of the smallholder scheme, which developed
intensively over more than three decades from the
late 1950s but saw no expansion since 1990, was that
selers’ incomes rose aer moving into the selements,
and perceived their post-selement lives as beer.
Judged by recent electoral results, the sasfacon level
of Felda selers ranges from 60% to 90%. Many early
Felda selers arrived with family incomes of under
RM300 per month. Such was the aracon that some
selers even moved elsewhere rst to increase their
chance of entering Felda (migrang to get on a beer
state level queue for entry; notably Pahang, as a net-
recipient state).
Diagram 3.1 illustrates how oil palm seler incomes
uctuated with CPO prices (and the eect of dierent
oil palm holding sizes), while Table 3.3 presents data
and informaon about the key sources of Felda seler
earnings (net primary income, secondary income, KPF
investment returns and other incenves). The primary
incomes of Felda selers from oil palm were highly
dependent on the CPO price and the plot size of their
land. The diagram demonstrates these relaonships
(drawing upon data presented in Part 2A).
Diagram 3.1: Naonal Felda selers’ average net
monthly incomes, 1979-2004
0
500
1,00 0
1,50 0
2,00 0
2,50 0
1979 19 84 1989 19 94 1999 20 04
Monthly i ncome, CPO price (RM)
Oil palm , 4.1 ha Oil palm , 4.9 ha
Oil palm , 5.7 ha Nomina l cru de p alm o il pri ce ( RM, y ear a vera ge)
Pre-1979, 85% had income sub RM200 pre-settlement
Note: 4.1 ha Felda seler earns 9.3x CPO price, 4.9 ha holding
earns 9.5x and 5.7 ha holding earns 12.4x CPO price.
Source: Seler smallholding data from Bahrin and Lee (2006, p.37),
Malaysia CPO price from MPOB (2015).
Felda sought to bring other income benets to Felda
selers. Given the uctuaon of primary incomes, this is
not so surprising. Felda’s aim was for selers to have 20-
30% secondary income from other sources (Anon. ALR,
2015), they also oered investment opportunies in the
KPF (private equity) for selers in processing acvies,
and other incenves were also created. This was
summarised in the Table 2A.7 as they evolved over me.
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These socio-economic improvements, including school
infrastructure for seler children, had an unintended
eect of generang rural to urban migraon among
the selers’ children. This trend of out-migraon has
connued, with most of the Felda second generaon
uninterested in agricultural work. There is some
conjecture that Felda displayed lile interest in the
large scale training of the seler children, who for the
most part are beer educated than their parents, for
its managerial sta or downstream industries. This
brings us to the queson of how successful Felda was
in creang modern farmers. A major cricism is that
the selers had become over-dependent on Felda
(they are “anak emas” or literally “golden children”,
Anon. ADA, 2015) to resolve their own problems
and therefore lacked the skills necessary for such a
transion. Arguably, this is a peculiar problem of oil
palm where few are keen to traipse around the eld,
heing 20kg fruits in the humid tropics. Such was the
success of the socio-economic programme of Felda that
a large proporon of the children of selers became
well educated and migrated to urban areas. Indeed, the
thinking of Felda was that its success was in moving
the children of selers away from such farming (Anon
ALR, 2015, also Anon. ZAZ, 2015), with the selers
themselves aspiring that their children achieved high
levels of educaon (see Part 2A).
We turn to consideraon of three key macro themes in
Felda seler socio-economic outcomes.
As selers age, their approach may be shiing to a
‘sascing’ mode, as they are aware of their limitaons
and their needs are more modest. They saw the scope
to employ Indonesian migrant labour when the situaon
demanded it, either by outsourcing plot management
to Technoplant or eschewing such Felda support and
shiing to share cropping with Indonesian workers.
In terms of improving the livelihood and economic
empowerment and agency of selers, the Felda project
created posive outcomes. The economic agency of
selers was evident as shown by the example of taking
up a legal suit on unfair fruit grading (the transion from
“parang to lawsuit” approach as put by an interviewee;
Norazam, 2015). Using the polical opposion
for support on FFB grading and rubber replanng
contracng (but sll vong strongly for UMNO-Barisan
Nasional), selers displayed their polical awareness.
On the broader instuonal level, Felda as social
enterprise demonstrated strong polical will and
focused on delivering not just incomes to selers but
also other socio-economic benets and outcomes. Felda
was clearly an enabler for independent smallholder and
small private estates, with its rst-mover advantage
since it was well funded relave to private sector
plantaons. Felda was also an enabler for independent
smallholders and small private estates which supplied
FFB to its mills (oen the pioneer plant in the region).
Felda’s oil palm area was almost one-third of Malaysia’s
total unl the late 1980s. This is tesmony to its major
role in developing the Malaysia oil palm sector. Since
then, as the private sector has expanded faster, the
Felda Group (seler and FGV) area has dropped to
13% of the Malaysian total. With 71 oil palm mills, it is
perhaps no surprise that it sources its FFB in the rao
1:1:1 from selers: FGV estates: and external suppliers
(independent smallholders and small/mid-sized estates).
Along with implemenng Malaysia’s New Economic
Policy ethnic redistribuve objecves, Felda adopted
a state developmentalist approach which generated
economic mulpliers for private and Felda seler
contractors in infrastructural development necessary
for the success of the schemes. Two notable points are,
rst, its selecon of private contractors for eecve
implementaon and reluctance to bow to Bumiputera
procurement policies when their capability in the early
days might have compromised the development of the
schemes and not produced palm oil of export quality;
and second, maintaining some ethnic balance in the
later years in the procurement of contracts, for example,
using the government-linked MARA in an associated
mber complex.
On the socio-environmental policy front, Felda was
historically engaged in green-eld froner developments
in tropical forest zones, later expanding its mills to buy
more external FFB. Now that it is moving rapidly into
RSPO cercaon, the processing of third party FFB
ironically will constrain its ability to secure cercaon to
a higher level. Three points should be noted.
First, in the inial years, the current conservaon
vs. development debate did not exist but over me
concerns over conservaon and relaons with local
indigenous populaons became more evident (Anon.
ARL, 2015).
Second, given its large size, it was inevitable that Felda
would have been sought as a key early member of
sustainable palm oil programmes. It has quickly adjusted
to the new socio-polical environment and taken on the
responsibility of ensuring RSPO cercaon in stages
with full RSPO cercaon audits by 2017 for all FGV
mills and Felda seler and FGV estates.
Third, because one-third of its FFB comes from external
suppliers, many FGV mills are likely to be stuck with the
lesser RSPO (lower sustainability cercate premium
earning) mass balance supply chain opon. It is ironic
that the RSPO system favours monolithic structures
over those that are more inclusive of small external
suppliers. Thus, wholly integrated mill and corporate
estates can more easily aain the higher level (higher
premium) RSPO supply chain Identy Preserved
opon (Anon. BUG, 2015, Anon. FOL, 2015). In such
circumstances, Felda selers will nd themselves
relavely disadvantaged if they supply FFB to FGV mills
which also buy large amounts from independent small
and mid-sized suppliers.
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Socio-economic impacts of plantaons and
future expansion
Felda was an important part of newly independent
Malaysia’s poverty alleviaon strategy. It was an
integrated rural development programme backed by
strong polical will and mul-agency partnerships. Its
highly focused policy and administraon was supported
by strong state and mul-lateral funding to boost
outcomes for mostly 4 hectare smallholders of export-
orientated rubber and oil palm. It was a social enterprise
designed to be seler-centric.
Such has been the success of Felda that seler areas
sll voted largely (60-90%) for the UMNO-Barisan
Nasional ruling coalion at the May 2013 General
Elecon (Khor, 2015, p.106).
The Felda concept of 1956 to 1990 is widely admired.
“It was as an astute policy to help the large rural Malay
populaon. They were close to or in poverty and not
linked to the market economy. Rubber and oil palm
were the ideal way to set the Malaysia rural economy
on its feet. This is a very relevant development
programme (for many places); parts of Africa suer 85%
unemployment; and it uses relavely small land areas
(to generate income). It creates a very dramac socio-
economic boost for smallholders and workers, although
perhaps with limited trickle-down to the local economy
than other alternaves. The seler pays o his loan,
upgrades his house, and gets professional educaon
for his children. It is so protable that the seler works
himself out of a job” (Anon. BAH, 2015).
Since 1990, Felda has been shiing from a social-
enterprise to a corporate model. There have been no
more new selers since that year, and investments in
commercial estates and more downstream processing
assets has been its focus. The most recent stage of
the Felda Group’s evoluon features heightened
corporasaon, with signicant corporate restructurings
to build FGV. This has brought mixed reacons.
FGV’s development featured an inial public oering
of the commercial estates (on long term land leases)
of Felda and its 49% owned downstream processing
assets in 2012 to garner a RM4.5 billion cash pile for
FGV’s expansion plans (Khor, 2012). This was followed
by the late 2013 acquision of RM2.2 billion worth of
key processing assets which selers and employees
owned via Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF, the Felda
Investment Cooperave). These moves removed Felda
selers from their crucial 51% ownership and control
of core processing assets which helped to generate
average dividends of 14% per annum over a 30 year
period (FGV, 2012). These high returns are the hallmark
of the private equity investment opportunity created by
Raja Alias for the selers in 1980 for the Felda selers
and employees.
By changing this unusual seler-centric economic
approach, do Felda smallholders revert to becoming a
corporate appendage? Certainly, the future upstream
expansion plans for FGV does not build upon new
seler schemes. As for the Felda model, it is apparent
that FGV, in its plantaon acquisions, now operates
much like any other public-listed plantaon company,
without stated goals for achieving higher than regulated
smallholder land development raos. To do otherwise,
would be surprising given the strictures of the free
market system for prot maximisaon and pressure for
quarterly reporng and equity market performance.
Malaysia has run out of greeneld sites for oil palm
development and it has also run out of people keen
to work oil palm holdings. Moreover, Felda selers are
ageing and entering a more economic “sascing” (as
opposed to maximising) stage of their economic life-
cycle. While the full support of the Felda commercial
arm may no longer be available to them, it is to be
expected that Malaysian federal agencies, state
agencies, and policians of all stripes will sll pay close
aenon to their needs, as they are a large rural interest
group of considerable electoral signicance (Maznah
2015 and Khor 2014, 2015).
Many of the selers now outsource their operaons to
Felda’s Technoplant (a relavely new unit of the Felda
statutory board, which has contractual arrangements
with a unit of FGV; where previously replanng and
operaons were eected by a unit in Felda’s commercial
business). Migrant labour is contracted by Technoplant
to operate selers’ holdings in a block system, where
each seler earns the same amount per hectare
(Barlow, 2015b).
Also notable is the transion of the Felda mills to full
FGV ownership. These were crical in creang market
opportunies for new oil palm growers in froner areas
of the Peninsula, and this role may now be geng
another new impetus. FGV’s need to li its prots
is reportedly driving some expansion of its mills to
aract outside FFB; some independent millers have
become concerned about future problems in sourcing
FFB if FGV expands its mills (Anon. TEG, 2015). Such
compeon could help support FFB prices to the
benet of independent growers.
It is unlikely that the Felda seler programme will be
replicated locally in future and it is quesonable that
other countries or regions would nd the nancial
wherewithal to create such a high-end model of land
reselement. Indeed, specialists say that a ve person
family now needs a palm plot of 10 hectares to t
current needs and aspiraons (Anon. ALR, 2015).
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How carbon stock thresholds are aected in
expansion
The Felda seler programme has not expanded since
1990. Most Felda seler schemes were originally
developed on green-eld sites in an era when
sustainability issues were of limited interest anywhere
in the world. Historically, its land development was
preceded by mber clearance, and accompanied by the
establishment of mber complexes in major rural zones
including Jengka and Johor Tenggara. Further upstream
expansion is the goal of FGV, the public-listed arm of
the Felda Group, but due to Malaysia’s land scarcity
and land cost, new areas will be developed outside the
country. FGV has been reported in news arcles to be
exploring expansion in other climacally suitable regions
of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Papua New
Guinea and Mindanao. As a member of the RSPO, any
of FGV’s new planngs would come under the RSPO
New Planng Procedure which requires a reducon
in GHG emissions, a de facto HCS policy. However,
given analyst and investor concerns about its nancial
outlook, FGV has recently emphasised that its upstream
growth centres on browneld sites36. For such sites,
the RSPO HCV Compensaon Procedure oers strong
nancial incenve (a possible mul-US dollar million
cost barrier) for the purchase of “correctly planted” sites
if non-RSPO member owned estates are bought.
Migang the impact of industry expansion
The most important lessons drawn from Felda schemes
was its socially oriented character, which diered
from a purely commercial strategy. This approach was
backed by a strong federal instuon and the polical
will to carry through the project despite its high cost.
Moreover, a partnership with local-level states and the
private sector with state oversight meant that overly
deleterious eects of land development could be
checked. One should also not ignore the importance
of a strong and principled leadership behind the Felda
instuon.
For a long period of Felda’s development, a no-
nonsense chairperson and hands-on director ensured
that commercial excesses were controlled and
deviaons from the social programme were checked.
The Sahabat area was then an unstable froner zone
with the presence of pirates. Felda schemes through
its social programme and infrastructural development,
e.g. the supply of electricity to all the rural dwellers,
contributed to stabilising the socio-polical
environment. Near Sahabat, Felda pioneered a project
for an indigenous group, the Murut, who remained
in situ with their lifestyle, while an oil palm area was
developed by Felda for their benet via a trust agency
(Anon. ZAZ, 2015 and Anon. ALR, 2015). The eecve
granng of free land by the states, the sourcing of
foreign assistance and technical advice from the World
Bank, WWF and others no doubt, would have migated
some of the potenally negave impacts of the
schemes as we have reviewed in Part 2B of this report.
Instuonal features and mechanisms in
context of HCS regulaons
Felda seler projects were mostly green-eld froner
developments in tropical forest zones. At the me, the
current conservaon versus development debate was
limited at best. These were the immediate decades
aer World War II when the World Wildlife Fund
for Nature (founded by European-US leaders) was
geng on its feet just as Malaysia and other newly
independent countries were trying to do likewise aer
colonial rule. Now, social cum environmental policies
are very much at the forefront in the palm oil sector
with strong NGO campaigns and the largest buyers and
producers acceding. This started in the mid 2000s with
environmental issues and the formaon of the WWF-
led Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO). In the
mid-2010s, social consideraons are expanding as some
eorts to implement stronger environmental policies are
running into social issues.
High carbon stock pledges (pung upward pressure on
RSPO policy) aect the areas that can be developed, to
limit deforestaon. There are now at least three HCS
regimes: the HCS Approach (April 2015 formalisaon)
pioneered by Greenpeace-The Forest Trust-Golden
Agri Resources and supported by the large processor-
trader groups including Wilmar and Cargill; RSPO (a
cercaon program) has a de facto HCS policy via
its greenhouse gas emissions migaon rule in its
New Planng Procedure; and the Sustainable Palm Oil
Manifesto37, led by a group of large integrated palm
plantaon groups. These point towards potenally rising
compeon between plantaons and local peoples
as future development gets restricted within a smaller
geographical (lower carbon stock) area.
In interviews with former senior administrators of Felda
and specialists familiar with Felda over the decades,
we gained valuable insights about the early thinking,
cohesive partnerships and socio-environmental
approaches of Felda. Key person interviews include:
Barlow (10 April 2015), Anon. ALR (16 April 2015) and
Anon. ZAZ (19 April 2015). We set these observaons
about macro-instuonal issues alongside the current
socially charged outlook, with compeon for rural land,
inevitably linked to the new HCS regimes.
36 Felda Global Ventures eyes browneld plantaons to maintain cash, 1 May 2015,
hp://www.themalaymailonline.com/money/arcle/v-eyes-browneld-plantaons-to-maintain-cash#sthash.SrP74BMS.dpuf.
37 This organisaon commissioned the present study.
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Table 3.3: Felda smallholder project’s macro lessons for current HCS issues
Felda lessons Current issues
On the economic model – seler-centric On the economic model - corporate and processor-
trader centric
We inherited the Brish colonial plantaon system. Now,
“(companies) must learn to share” (Anon. ALR, 2015).
Felda was a social enterprise that was seler-centric. In
contrast, the present day focus on corporate-led plantaon
development will always set smallholder development as less
than primary.
What do you mean by “milling margin”? We were there to cut
out the middleman. We wanted to bring low cost processing
(benchmarked against private sector cost) to give the seler
a beer price for his crop (Anon ALR, 2015). Barlow (2015b)
reiterates this point, “(post-Independence) we were very
suspicious of middlemen in many crop sectors.”
Processor-traders are central to the seng socio-environmental
rules that form de facto market-access policies. These are
ancipated to have impact on pricing bargaining power relave
to producers (especially those with diculty or slow to join
sustainability programs i.e. smallholders inclusive).
Felda sta were a cohesive force to deliver outcomes for
selers. It was only when sta shied from civil servants pay
scales to commercial salary and incenves that the “tensions”
started (Anon ALR, 2015).
Clearly, corporate led new smallholder programs will seek
to deliver a cost-eecve and well executed project but will
not seek to expand smallholder interest beyond the farm
gate (unlike the early Felda social enterprise approach). In the
present day free market capitalist milieu, expansive smallholder
centric commodity supply-chain eorts are not a major policy
plaorm in corporast polies.
On close government-community-corporate relaons and
limited stakeholder conicts
On close corporate-NGO but distant government
relaons and heightened stakeholder conicts
The evoluon of Felda put government- community relaons
as the lead, and relaons with the corporate sector were
established later.
The sustainability - HCS regimes for palm oil has placed the
corporate sector at the forefront (led by NGO advocacy) and
government-community relaons are following these.
In the newly independent Malaysia, Felda set out to work with
state governments to create a dierent approach. The program
was well supported at the federal, state and community
level. State governments welcomed the creaon of jobs and
livelihoods; and were happy to see federal funds being invested
in their state. Felda worked closely with state governments
to alienate this land for its rural poverty alleviaon eort, and
such was the rapport and trust that we would somemes move
ahead regulatory and legal sign-os (Anon ALR, 2015).
Inevitably, corporates will contest policy with consideraon of
their interests at the forefront. There is also a growing sector
of NGOs which have relaonships with corporates, as technical
service providers. There are also newer NGOs entering the
palm oil sector fray as issues and policies evolve and expand.
“There was very lile conict…. everyone was poor at that me
- it is easier to work together when you are all poor” (Anon ALR,
2015).
The HCS regimes do not appear to have worked closely
with naonal-state agencies. Indeed, it is the hallmark of
sustainability that they are voluntary eorts which are supra-
naonal and exceed naonal and state government policies.
As Felda developed its downstream sectors, it started to
establish joint-ventures with key processors and buyers
including US company Procter & Gamble, which set up its base
in Kuantan, moving its major operaons there. (Details in Part
2B, Anon. ZAZ, 2015).
Dierent stakeholders have their interests and asymmetrical
negoang powers will impact outcomes. Who is represenng
and negoang for the interests of the smallholders?
Civil servants have rising concerns about the potenal
negaves of rapidly advancing corporate sector pledges
on the market access for smallholders. Indonesia’s Farmer
Empowerment and Protecon Act 2013 is an example of
a migang policy to empower governments to check any
untoward repression of farmer economic interests by dominant
companies in the supply-chain.
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Felda lessons Current issues
On environmental policy - smallholder needs rst,
biodiversity and deforestaon came at a later stage
On environmental policy - biodiversity and deforestaon
set asides reduces plantable area,
for the company and/or smallholders?
“We were thinking about orang kampong (villagers), not
orang hutan (forest people) or orang-utan.” Felda seler sites
were selected for their suitability for planng the crops. The
environmental issues came later (Anon ALR, 2015).
Sustainability specialists report that they are nding 30-35%
net plantable area for the in in secondary forest areas which
have 30% human use areas (say 10% crop and 20% forest
usage); this suggests 50% HCV and HCS set-asides, 30% in
and 20% plasma (Anon. BUG, 2015). This implies de facto
new in:plasma raos of 60:40. A similar rao was reported by
a sugar cane developer as a more workable in:plasma rao
in Sumatra, under higher rural social expectaons (Anon. LIS,
2015)38.
Felda beneted only indirectly from the mber, as the land was
cleared, ready for planng. There was primary forest as well as
logged over forests (Anon ALR, 2015).
It is also necessary to have supporve naonal and regional
policies and regulaons. A retrospecve counterfactual
review of Felda’s development might be well informed by the
approach taken by Brazil where regulated set-asides have been
established for corporate planters (stricter), as well smallholders
(more lenient) to allow for socio-economic development.
Several mber complexes are associated with the Felda
programs, notably for Jengka in Pahang (concessionaires and
beneciaries included a Canadian mber company and MARA),
Johor Tenggara (beneciaries included the state government)
and Sahabat (see Part 2B).
On indigenous / local peoples - community project for
reserve land development held in trust
On indigenous / local peoples - the need for state
subsidies and mul-lateral funding?
The policy for indigenous peoples was not to disturb their
reserve land areas. Some were likely moved if their shiing
culvaon pracse took them outside of their reserve areas and
in Felda development zones, “but there was no conict with
indigenous peoples… (indeed), there was very lile conict….
everyone was poor at that me - it is easier to work together
when you are all poor” (RA, 2015).
For strictly smallholder and indigenous centric projects, it
appears that experience has demonstrated the expected - few
large corporaons can subsume social enterprises within the
ambit of their commercial status.
The Felda program did not encompass indigenous peoples
as their development was led by a dierent agency with its
own policy approaches. Later however, Felda did nally get
to develop a site for the Murut people in Sabah, where their
nave reserve land was developed on their behalf, with the oil
palm proceeds going to the Murut cooperave. The indigenous
peoples remained in situ and they beneted as oil palm
cooperave shareholders. This was a community project funded
by Felda in the Kalabakan area. This was one-o. More could
have been done along these lines (RA, 2015).
The success of the Felda seler program points to the need
for naonal and/or state subsidies as well as mul-lateral
funding. Imparal support of cost-ecient social enterprise is
likely needed to negoate a good commercial deal and access
for smallholders who would otherwise disadvantageously face
asymmetrical knowledge, bargaining and power relaons.
Corporates and individuals tend to seek direct nancial returns
but public sector funding can take the wider view and benet
from posive externalies.
However, there is need to balance the relavely high cost
approach of the Felda seler program; this aects the number
of people it can emplace. Depending on the socio-economic
situaon of the newly developing region, the smallholder family
income target can be set and the land area needed can be
determined (in the case of Malaysia, Felda specialists think that
10 hectares is needed for a family of 5 (Anon ALR, 2015).
Felda mills an enabler for independent smallholders and
small private estates
FGV mills faces RSPO cercaon problems because of its
high level of sourcing from smaller producers
Felda was also an enabler for independent smallholders and
small private estates who supplied fruits to its palm oil mill
(oen the pioneer processing facility in its area).
Now, FGV has 71 mills and their FFB sourcing is Felda seler:
FGV estates: independent suppliers (smallholders and small and
mid-sized private estates) in the rao of about 33:33:33. FGV
needs to eect and perhaps help fund the cercaon of its
Felda seler suppliers (see Focus topic immediately below).
38 For the largest plantaon, at the forefront of determining new planng areas are high conservaon value / HCV and high carbon stock / HCS standards. It
appears that the corporate farm (in) area is then set out and there is uncertainty and contestaon over whether the plasma area (Indonesia regulaon sets a
minimum 20%) is taken o the wider concession area or the net plantable area (with the unplantable area returned by the plantaon to the state; likely to be
reallocated to another concessionaire, and possibly nullifying the intended posive environmental impact of the corporate pledge standards; Anon. FOL, 2015;
Anon. BUG, 2015). In this regard, it is worth reiterang this point: We inherited the Brish colonial plantaon system. Now, “(companies) must learn to share”
(Anon ALR, 2015).
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Smallholder cercaon: the need for
assistance and incenves to parcipate in
sustainability
It is the overwhelming consensus that smallholders
and independent producers do not see any direct
nancial return on RSPO cercaon (Anon. BUG,
2015; Anon. FOL, 2015 and Haris, 2015). FGV is
therefore supporng the process of RSPO cercaon
for selers. However, FGV sustainability specialists
worry that selers may not take measures to maintain
cercaon in the face of insucient direct nancial
benets from this cercaon. There is reportedly
some intenon to oer higher revenues to selers
even if that exceeds what FGV might earn from selling
the RSPO cercates (Norazam, 2015). In a way, this
may point to the need for third party FFB to be paid
a premium by integrated plantaons to oset the
nancially regressive sustainability system that has
evolved. For instance, WWF et al. (2012) write that
RSPO regulaons oer more direct benet and lower
cost to the largest corporaons; while small to medium-
sized corporaons and smallholders have fewer direct
benets and higher costs.
Arshad (2015) refers to NGO cosngs for RSPO
cercaon and compliance at just over RM400,000
per 2,500 hectare site per year (for 50 smallholders with
50 hectares each, substanally more than the Felda 4
ha smallholding). He notes that current premia imply
only break-even for such a smallholder (if all cercates
are sold under mass balance) and concludes that
there is no incenve to cerfy unless there is nancial
support from a large company. Further, he states that
“companies with processing assets can garner more
from RSPO cercaon... the premia gains are out of
reach of smallholders.”
It is not surprising that the lack of incenve for
smallholders es in with the rising eort of large
companies such as FGV and others to create special
support programmes to induce them to cerfy. Data
from Arshad indicates that the cost of RSPO compliance
for the largest plantaons may be US$5 per tonne
of CPO and that for smallholders (using the cosng
summarised above) works out at US$12 per tonne.
Senior plantaon experts point to a strong need for
managed cooperaves operang under strict rules to
implement smallholder programmes eecvely39. This
is regarded as necessary for nancial risk management
purposes. So long as the loan comes from a commercial
bank (interest rates in Indonesia for smallholders
are in the low teens) and/or is implicitly or explicitly
underwrien by the plantaon company, these
commercial enes will want to be assured of quality
and consistency in the management of planngs, as well
as in operaons.
With emerging HCS regimes and rising social issues,
large plantaon companies face limitaons on the
expansion of their own planted areas. They are mulling
over how best to develop more smallholder areas within
their control (for reasons stated above).
Key consideraons include:
• Rao of in to plasma. While some talk of 60:40
being more workable under current social situaons
(which are more heightened than in the past),
others speculate about plantaons shiing toward
a nancing and managing agent approach, whereby
the in:plasma rao may be 20:80 (which faces the
problem for the plantaon company of retaining
control over the supply of FFB from the plasma share
of the project once the loan has been repaid; Anon.
BAH, 2015). In the Indonesia context, the 20:80 rao
was one of the key Indonesia regulaons before the
adopon of liberalisaon for foreign and domesc
investors which reversed the rao to 80:20.
• One possible approach is to group smallholders
together within a cooperave. The plantaon
companies would like to have broad powers over
such a cooperave, and for their powers to extend
to determining who is a member of the cooperave
board (Anon. BAH, 2015).
• The planning cycle could be 25 years or even shorter
where oil palm replanng is needed. The cycle length
would be likely to be determined by the cost of land
and its development (see Table 3.5 for indicave cost
consideraons), the level of the interest rate, the
outlook for palm oil prices, as well as the reputaon
of the plantaon company backing it as an eecve
partner or managing agent.
• An important queson underlying the viability of
new schemes is the determinaon of the appropriate
size of an oil palm holding per smallholder family;
and this will depend on aspiraons, number of
potenal smallholders and land availability. Table 3.4
indicates the overall investment costs in Malaysia and
Indonesia.
39 In Indonesia, “fully managed plasma” refers to where the plantaon company undertakes the development and operaons work in their enrety. There are
also diluted versions of this, from “partly managed plasma” all the way to fully independent smallholders.
66
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Malaysia indicave costs RM/ha 4ha 6ha 8ha 10ha
2/3 * 1990 Felda cost inated 3% pa 20,847 RM 83,387 125,080 166,773 208,467
US$ 22,972 34,457 45,943 57,429
Indonesia indicave costs RM/ha 2ha 4ha
Greeneld land cost 5,798 11,595 23,190
New planng cost 13,750 27,500 55,000
Cost of house and garden site 8,000 10,000
RM total 47,095 88,190
RM total, excl. land 35,500 65,000
US$ total, excl. land 17,906
Note: By the nal year (1990), cost per seler was RM 51,241/US$18,978 (with land granted for free). The loan amount was approximately two
thirds of the total cost per seler.
Source: Land cost from “Plantaon Sector: Where are land prices now?” 16 April 2015. CIMB Research; new planng cost from “Genng
Plantaons: Indonesia to drive volume growth.” 12 January 2015, AmBank Research.
Table 3.4: Indicave costs for smallholder plot and home, Malaysia and Indonesia, 2015 (RM)
The micro management issues are very akin to the
strict development and operaon rules of the Felda
smallholders’ programme, where loan repayment was an
important issue.
However, the natural urge for strict control of plantaon
developers and nanciers may not always suit local
selers’ equally prevalent democrac urges. Thus,
a signicant lesson that the plantaons developing
smallholder programmes could learn from the Felda
experience is the scale of the sta resources that
need to be put in place in order to achieve the level of
smallholder sasfacon that Felda has achieved.
The selement sizes for Felda’s schemes have been in
the range from 300 to 500 seler families, alongside
whom were the on-site stang was between 15 and
25 people, over one-third of which were involved with
community development including religious aairs
(Anon. ALR, 2015).
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Conclusions and quesons for further research
Two issues clearly emerge from this report
that call for further study and invesgaon.
First, what are the economics of oil palm
culvaon for the corporate / commercial
farmer and for the smallholder under the
new HCS regimes?
Both groups are set to compete for physical
and economic space in the new HCS
threshold, smaller (lower carbon) zone. In
this context, it should be recalled that, unl
1980, Felda contributed approximately half
of the total new oil palm land development
for the whole country. Before the current
liberalised phase, Indonesia required
80% for smallholders and oered 20% to
corporaons (the situaon is now reversed).
What rao should then be expected or
jusable for smallholders within the HCS
regimes? At the micro level, within each
region, what is a suitable family income
target and hence what is the appropriate
area that could provide a living wage or
beer to the smallest smallholders? Is it, as
some now claim, 10 hectares or more?
This needs to be balanced against the
local populaon numbers. How many local
families can be absorbed into an oil palm
smallholder project and what is the plan
for possible “surplus” families that cannot
be accommodated with a new home and
smallholding? Are the nancial economics
and agronomics of the smallholding
appropriate and suitably benchmarked?
What are the development costs, the loan
amount (interest rate, tenure, payment terms
etc.), and operaonal costs? Do naonal and
provincial regulaons and policies recognise
these issues? How can commercial banks
and mul-lateral lenders play a role in liing
the socio-economic prospects of a poor rural
segment? Given the rising importance of
sustainability, how can nancially regressive
elements of cercaon (implying a higher
relave cost to small farmers and the risk
of reducing their price bargaining power
and market access) be reformulated to be
progressively advantageous for smallholders?
Secondly, what type of smallholder cum
labour regime will emerge? In Malaysia’s
state-run smallholder schemes with ageing
selers, migrant labour is widely relied on
(as it is also in the commercial plantaons).
Indonesia and other countries will also
increasingly face the “second generaon”
problem as to who will replace the current
smallholders. There are the many social
problems already now associated with
migrant workers to consider. Further
research on smallholders as an integral part
of the oil palm industry must delve into
these issues.
Where these two issues possibly overlap, it
is intriguing to consider the idea posed by
a key interview subject (Anon. BAH, 2015).
Should a poor family be given the lease use
of the oil palm smallholding for a limited
period (reecng the oil palm planng
cycle)? Thereaer, another (poorer) young
family can be oered the use benet of the
smallholding.
While this idea may face a tough polical
feasibility test, it sharpens our focus on the
praccal queson of how to achieve a more
equitable distribuon of the socio-economic
benets of oil palm smallholdings, especially
in the context of new schemes on greeneld
sites.
This study of the Felda programme points to
the core issue aecng the palm oil industry,
namely the distribuon of the economic
benets between the corporate farmer, the
smallholder, the oil palm eld worker, and
the poor rural folk who lie outside this circle.
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Interviews
Anon. ADA (2015), senior planter cum lawyer from
Sabah, acve in palm oil associaons, 23 April 2015,
Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. ALR (2015), long me Felda senior manager,
15 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. BUG (2015), sustainability specialist, plantaon
development, personal communicaon, 2 April 2015,
Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. BAH (2015), member of senior management of a
large plantaon company, personal communicaon,
15 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. FOL (2015), member of senior management of a
large plantaon company, personal communicaon,
17 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. LIS (2015), member of senior management
of cane sugar plantaon company, personal
communicaon, 9 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. ZAZ (2015), long me Felda senior manager,
19 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Anon. TEG (2015), member of senior management of
palm oil mill company, personal communicaons,
14 April 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
Barlow, Colin (2015a); Felda and Southeast Asia
smallholder development expert, 10 April 2015,
Kuala Lumpur.
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a Global Ventures Berhad, personal communicaon, 3
March 2015, Kuala Lumpur.
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Universi Malaya is Malaysia’s pre-eminent university.
As part of the literature review work of this project,
a selecve review of the nave language / Bahasa
Malaysia literature available on the socio-economics
of the Felda project was reviewed over a period of 10
days.
Other key libraries that may be reviewed by student’s
seeking material on Felda include the libraries of
Universi Putra Malaysia (the former agricultural
university) and Universi Kebangsaan Malaysia. In
addion to Universi Malaya, the collecon at the Felda
Library was also reviewed (and shown in a separate
table lisng below).
Appendix 1A: A Selected Lisng of Socio-
Economic Literature on Felda from Key
Universi Malaya Libraries and the Felda
Library
The following selected literature lisng for the key
socio-economic topics of interest focuses more on
works published aer 1985, especially in the key
geographies of Jengka in Pahang, Johor Tenggara and
Sahabat in Sabah:
• Seler origins
• Primary and secondary income
• Labour and land
• Family and social services
• The selement - development and operaons
• The Felda Group
• State administraon and funding
• Economic mulpliers and business linkages
• Environmental policies
The Bahasa Malaysia literature comprises mostly Phd
theses, masters papers, academic exercises with some
project paper, lectures and Felda corporate publicaons.
These have been seldom referred to recent
internaonal reviews of the Felda smallholder program.
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Table A1: Literature highlights on Felda seler socio-economics
Topic Title Abstract/Conclusion Key data points
Seler origins Note: Seler origins is oen a
detail in various studies. Most
include some data on state of
origin and previous profession.
Primary and secondary income Pengaruh sains, teknologi dan
sistem pengurusan ke atas
pemodenan masyarakat Melayu
luar bandar : satu kajian di Felda
Semarak Jengka 15, Pahang by
Mohd Zufri Mamat, 2011
The FELDA schemes have brought development from social, physical, and economic aspects to
the selers. The process of modernisaon of the rural populaon through FELDA can be seen
through the introducon of a work schedule that was organised and followed a set producon
procedure (Mamat, 291). The characteriscs of modernisaon can also be seen through the
existence of the FELDA management and administrave bureaucracy, and also the seler
associaons and commiees. Overall, the process of bringing rural folk to the seler schemes
can be seen as a reorganisaon of rural society from a tradional kampung economy to a modern
one in the schemes (Mamat, 292). The study is aimed at nding out if modernisaon in the
Seler schemes t Weber’s model of modernisaon. Ulmately, Mamat concludes that a unique
process of modernisaon took place on the seler schemes. While the selers saw improvements
in socio-economic terms, and were open to new ideas, they sll clung to some religious and
tradional beliefs.
Parcipaon in organisaons/commiees
Savings Among Selers
Level of Educaon Selers Aspire to for Children
Knowledge Priorised by Selers for Children
Selers Percepon of Women’s Rights
Percepon of How Life Has Changed Post-Felda
Primary and secondary income Pembangunan Komuni di
Rancangan FELDA: Satu Kajian
Kes di Rancangan FELDA Sungai
Tiang, Kedah by Yaacob Harun,
1975
This study focuses on how far the development objecves of FELDA have been achieved. The
study looks at community development, the background and setup of the scheme, and the
standard of living of the selers. The study also examines the social objecves of FELDA, namely
to create “a stock of modern and progressive farmers”. This study conrms the recurring theme
in the literature of an overdependence of the selers on Felda. Furthermore, the selers had not
fully adapted to the Felda method of farming such as clearing the smallholdings to the schedule
or standards set by Felda, the xed schedule, or taking their turns to tap the rubber. The study
also nds that there was low parcipaon in ocial seler organisaon, another recurring nding
in the literature. In sum, Felda failed in its mission to produce a “stock of modern and progressive
farmers” despite the socio economic progress.
In 1971, the average wage of the selers was $150 a month, more than when
entering the schemes (185).
FELDA esmated that a seler with an 8 acre lot (including 2 for dusun) would be
able to earn a net income of $97 a month aer 5 years, and $112 a month aer
15 years. However, the Sungai Tiang selers were able to earn about $48.17 more
than this target aer ve years (189).
FELDA esmated that selers on a rubber smallholdings with a lot of 10 acres,
including 2 for dusun would be able to earn $344 net income aer paying back
all loans and debts. This was esmated to take 22 years. However, the selers in
Sungai Tiang would have to wait longer as their rubber lots were smaller, around 8
acres including 2 acre for a dusun (189).
Aer ve years, Sungai Tiang selers were earning about $145.71 a month (189).
The minority of selers who engaged in side businesses or a second income,
usually did not earn more than $50 a month (189).
60% of selers’ income was used on basic necessies (190).
50% did not put aside any money away for savings (190).
Less than 35% of selers were registered with the ocial associaons on the
scheme (JKKR, GPW) (192).
Felda and Seler Development:
A Socioeconomic Study of Felda
Bukit Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor
by Wong Siew Tow (2000)
This study examines the social and economic development achevievements of Felda among the
selers of Bukit Wa Ha. The focus is economic acvity paerns, specically incomes, subsdiary
incomes, savings, and spending. Aspects of selers’ social life is also a focus, with a look at social
organisaons, social es amongst selers and Felda management, and social ills amongst seler
children. Conclusion: The selers have seen an increase in income, but monthly expenditure
varies depending on family size. Though overall it can be said they are receiving a protable
income. They have various electronic appliances, and at the very least own a motorcycle to travel
to work. About 82% have renovated or rebuilt their houses, and all respondents save money.
Hoever, the selers experience economic instability due to changing commodity prices, and the
quality of the oil palm harvested. A small number of selers are involved in subsidiary acvies
due to increase in age. Several people are invovled in cale rearing, and this is popular in this
scheme. There is an overdependence on Felda to solve social and economic problems. The seler
organisaons (JKKR, GPW, Belia) don’t have very good leadership from the selers, and their
acvies are poorly received by the selers. Rampant drug use, illegal racing, and the occurs
among seler children.
Type of facilies on scheme; Computer literacy; Place to learn computer skills;
Town library fees; Sta who work at the Bukit Wa Ha Felda Clinic; Dues of
Clinic Sta During the Week; Number of paents in a day; Level of educaon
of respondents; Literacy levels of respondents; Level of educaon among
respondents’ wives; Vocaonal Skills; Number of children; Level of educaon
among selers’ children; Summary of 1998 UPSR Results; 1998 UPSR Results
Analysis According to Subject; Complete Summary of 1998 UPSR Performance;
1998 PMR Performance According to Subjects; Summary of 1998 SPM Results;
Summary of 1998 SPM Results According to Subject; Deducon on basic rate of
oil extracon according to percentage of fresh fruit bunch; Subsidiary Acvies;
Monthly Income; Respondent A’s Income; Respondent B’s Income; Monthly
Spending; Family Size; Condion of House; Number of children in school; Yearly
Schooling Expenses for Children; Luxury Items Owned by Respondents; Vehicles
Owned by Respondents; Respondent A’s Monthly Expenses with a Family of Five;
Respondent B’s Monthly Expenses with a Family of Seven; Saving Habits Among
Respondents;
72
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Topic Title Abstract/Conclusion Key data points
The Socioeconomic Dierence
in a Seler Community Before
and Aer Replanng. Case
Study in Felda Jengka 21,
Pahang by Abdul Rashid bin
Jaafar (2011)
This study examines the socioeconomic dierences in a seler selement where rubber tress
were replaced with oil palm aer replanng. 91.4% of the respondents agreed to the replanng,
while 8.6% agreed to connue managing their smallholdings independently with rubber. Most
selers (38%) did not engage in any subsidiary acvies during replanng. While incomes dipped
during replanng, all selers saw an increase in income aer replanng.
Number of selers according to type of crop and managements of replanng;
Number of entrepreneurs and business; Age of respondents; Level of educaon of
respondents; Number of children of respondents; Number of children sll in school;
Car ownership amongst respondents; Motorcycle ownership amongst respondents;
Computer ownership amongst respondents; Mobile phone ownership amongst
respondents; Type of crops; Management of Replanng; Subsidiary acvity during
replanng; Income before replanng; Income during replanng; Income Aer
Replanng; Percepon of Socio-economic Dierence Aer Replanng; Reason for
Respondents’ Percepon; T-test free sample dierence of opinion on replanng
based on gender; T-test free sample of dierence of opinion based on type of crop;
T-test free sample of dierence of opinion based on management;
Women’s Parcipaon in Small
Ruminant Enterprise by Jahara
Yahaya, 1991
This study examines the role of women in small ruminant enterprise in three dierent FELDA
schemes in Negri Sembilan. Conclusion: Animal husbandry is a signicant supplementary income
for the smallholders who do engage in it. However, there are constraints that do not allow the
women to parcipate in animal husbandry at a commercialized level. This is in part because the
seler families lack the nancial resources to purchase a ock that would be large enough to be
considered commercial. The study also reveals that the women on the schemes are engaged in
other commercial acvies to earn supplementary incomes.
Main Purpose of Rearing Goat and Sheep; Main Uses of Cash Income from Goat
and Sheep Rearing; General household expenses; Net Income from Goat Sheep
Enterprise (M$)
Primary and secondary income The Current Working Status of
the First Generaon of in Felda
Sungai Tekam Utara, Jerantut,
Pahang (2013)
The original objecve of Felda was to raise the socio-economic status of landless Malaysians who
were living below the poverty level through re-selement. However, a number of rst generaon
selers no longer work the land they were given. Instead they receive a monthly income. Some of
the rst generaon are also involved in subsidiary incomes and receive two incomes. Conclusion:
Those who manage their smallholdings by themselves do so because they can received a higher
income (128). However, others feel a duty to preserve the smallholdings that were given to them
and so connue to manage their lots (129). There have been some smallholders who inially gave
their land over to Felda to manage, but have since broken their agreement and taken the land
back. This has resulted in bad relaons between Felda management and the selers. However,
Felda has not taken acon as it is a polical issue (130).
80% of labour is provided by foreign migrants (134).
Labour and land Pendatang Indonesia di
rancangan Felda Gugusan
Sungai Koyan, Raub, Pahang :
proses kemasukan dan implikasi
sosio-ekonomi by Marsitah bte.
Mohd. Radzi. 1991
The subject of the study was illegal migrant Indonesian labour working in Felda schemes, with
the Sungai Koyan scheme in Pahang as the case study. The author examines the factors driving
Indonesia migraon, how the migrants have adapted, and their relaons with the locals and to
Malaysia and their country of origin. Conclusion: The main factor driving Indonesian migraon
is economic. A combinaon of a lack of job opportunies or well paying jobs in Indonesia, and
a demand for migrant labour with beer wages in Malaysia means that migraon is increasing.
Social division/separaon between the migrants and locals exists, unless the migrants have
come with their families (330). Migrants maintain a strong connecon with Indonesia through
remiances, visits home, and leers (331). It is doubul that Indonesian migraon can be stopped
or reduced, as the second generaon of Felda selers is uninterested in managing the schemes.
The author concludes that Indonesian migranon would also increase as more Felda schemes are
opened up.
Number of Malaysian cizens and non-cizens in Felda Peninsular Malaysia, 1989;
Number of cizens and non-cizens within Felda Pahang, 1987; Pension Rate for
Selers in Sungai Koyan
Family and social services Penyelesaian isu harta pusaka
tanah rancangan Felda : kajian
kes Felda Lurah Bilut Bentong,
Pahang Darul Makmur by
Zulkii bin Mohamad
The study explores inheritance issues associated with Felda land, which is controlled under the
Land Act 1960. The Land Act 1960 restricts the number of people who can be registered as
the owners of Felda land to two people. As Felda approaches its 52nd year, issues regarding
inheritance have cropped up as the original selers are in their old age, or have already passed
away. The study examines the administrave and legal issues faced by heirs. Conclusion: The
Land Act 1960, which imposes a number of restricons on Felda land inheritance, is a secular law.
It was draed to avoid the problems inherent in tradional land. Nevertheless, inheritance issues
with Felda land aects a large number of selers’ heirs. A combinaon of lack of knowledge,
not naming a representave, and bureaucrac delays at various state land oces has resulted
in delays of transferring land tles. However, there is an awareness of the consequences of not
administering the land. Perhaps with beer awareness of the restricons on Felda land the delays
can be reduced.
Number of Unseled Inheritance Applicaons in Selected Districts; Method of
Obtaining Land; Atudes of Selers Towards the Division of Felda Land by Order
of Mean Score; Percepon of Selers Towards Felda Land Ownership Restricons;
73
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Topic Title Abstract/Conclusion Key data points
Family and social services Pembangunan luar bandar :
kajian ke atas migrasi, aspirasi
dan persepsi generasi kedua
peneroka FELDA by Suria bin
Ghazali
The majority of selers migrated to the schemes for a beer quality of life. The children of the
selers, the second generaon, migrated out of the schemes. Conclusion: The majority of FELDA
children were sased with the FELDA schemes, but were not interested in seler work and
aspired to migrate out of the scheme. The distance of the scheme from the main growth centre
(Kuala Lumpur), did not aect aspiraon to migrate out of the scheme (330-31). The objecve of
FELDA to reduce rural to urban migraon has failed to work with the second generaon, who are
not interested in agricultural work or the opportunies to further develop the FELDA schemes
(333). Migraon out of the schemes has to exist as the schemes are only able to maintain a
certain number of families. The objecve of FELDA is not to take care of the selers, but rather to
give them the ability to compete with residents outside the schemes (334).
Number of Seler Children in all Schemes According to Schooling Level up to
September 1987; Number of Unemployed Seler Children Up to September 1987;
Characteriscs of Potenal Out-Migrants from Johor Barat; Educaon Level of
Selers; Monthly Savings of Selers in Study Area; Rate of Migraon for Seler
Children According to Age and Scheme Area; Migraon Desnaon of Seler
Children by Urban/Non-Urban Classicaon; Level of Academic Achievement
among Migrants and Non-Migrant Aged 20 and Above; Year of Leaving School
Among Migrant Seler Children According to Region; Occupaons of Migrated
Seler Children According to Gender and Desnaon;
Family and social services Kedudukan sosio-ekonomi
anak-anak peneroka Felda di
negeri Melaka, 1980
by Hassan Naziri bin Khalid
The FELDA schemes have raised the standard of living among selers, and their children. This
study examines the socio economic posion of the selers’ children; especially in regards to their
educaonal aainments and career choices.
Conclusion: In general the socio economic posion of the selers’ children has improved,
especially in terms of educaon. A high percentage of selers’ children aain primary school
educaon, while about 36.9% aend lower secondary, and 46% complete secondary school.
Though some children do go on to higher educaon. However, a higher failure rate in SRP/
LCE than schools near the schemes suggests that the overall academic achievement of FELDA
children is behind their non-FELDA peers. The research also uncovered a high unemployment
rate among the second generaon. They lacked the entrepreneurial skills to open small businesses
such as workshops, carpentry shops and so on despite the fact that these businesses were
needed on the schemes.
33.3% of selers, excluding Bukit Senggeh, have $450 a month (220); 41.3% of
three old selements have income of $300-499 a month (221); 25.4% of selers
from the above three selements make <$300
The selement - development
and operaons
Kesatuan dan Instusi dalam
masyarakat FELDA : satu
njauan mengenai bentuk dan
fungsi by Rokiah Talib, 1984
Felda, in an eort to reorganise rural life, has created three ocial organisaons in all Felda
schemes. Namely the Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung Rancangan (Reseled
Village Development and Safety Commiee) (JKKR), Gerakan Persatuan Wanita (Women’s
Movement Associaon) (GPW), and the Persatuan Belia (Youth Associaon) (PB). However, the
due to the top down nature of these organisaons, the acvies of these organisaons do not
always receive good parcipaon from the selers. There is a block-centric senment among
the selers. There is more sense of community amongst the blocks rather than the scheme
as a whole; this is due to gotong-royong acvies, and marriage es that exist in the blocks.
As a result acvies sponsored for the enre scheme does not receive as much parcipaon
as acvies organised in individual blocks. Life in the FELDA schemes is more organised than
tradional kampung life (Talib, 32). Besides the urbanisaon process that has occurred, the
selers’ parcipaon in these ocial organisaons has changed their behaviour paerns from
those characterisc of tradional society as inherited from the kampungs (Talib, 32).
Types of Facilites on the Selement; Type of Associaons and Acvies; Opinion of
Seler/Wife on the Requirements of Good Leader; Most Benecial Ocial Gorups;
Most Benecial Unocial Groups;
The selement - development
and operaons
Impak Sektor Perkilangan Sawit
Kepada Alam Sekitar Fizikal dan
Manusia: Kajian Kes di Felda
Padang Piol, Jerantut, Pahang
by Nor Azura bin Ali, 2009
A study of the eects of an oil palm processing plant on both the environment and humans.
Study conducted with a sample of 100 respondents and secondary data. Negave environmental
impacts were discovered.
There was moderate air polluon, with ne black dust in the air from the factory
chimney that was too short (104). There was also an anecdote of a leak in the
chimney, and a lter that was not replaced by one of the workers, which led to
more air polluon (104). There was also water polluon with factory waste owing
into a nearby river (106). 55% felt air polluon aected them, 13% felt there was
earth polluon, 7% felt there was water polluon, and 25% that there was sound
polluon from lorries going to and fro.
74
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
Appendix 1B: Selected Literature Lisng -
Universi Malaya and Felda Libraries
75
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
Peranan FELDA dalam membantu kaum bumiputera dalam ekonomi dan
prestasi FGVH di bursa Malaysia
FELDA’s role in helping indigenous people in the economy and the
performance of FGV in the Malaysian exchange
Noor Lafah Hanim
bin Mohd Said.
2014 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise UM BP43 M4 2014
NOOLHMS
Pengaruh sains, teknologi dan sistem pengurusan ke atas pemodenan
masyarakat Melayu luar bandar : satu kajian di Felda Semarak Jengka 15,
Pahang
The inuence of science, technology and management systems for the
modernizaon of the rural community: a study in Felda Semarak Jengka
15, Pahang
Mohd Zufri Mamat ang UM Main Library Phd UM Q175 UMP 2011
Mohzm
Penyelesaian isu harta pusaka tanah rancangan Felda : kajian kes Felda
Lurah Bilut Bentong, Pahang Darul Makmur
Soluon to estate issues in Felda: A case study in Felda Lurah Bilut,
Bentong, Pahang Darul
Zulkii bin
Mohamad
2010 UM Main Library Phd UM BP42 A1 UMP 2010
Zulm
Raja Muhammad Alias : the architect of FELDA Raja Muhammad Alias : the architect of FELDA Rokiah Talib. 2009 UM Main Library Book JQ1062 A69Rokt
Akhlak remaja di Felda Ulu Belitong, Kluang,
Johor : kajian tentang masalah
Juvenile behaviour in Felda Ulu Belitong, Kluang, Johor: a study of
problems
Wan Norasiah Wan
Ismail.
2003 UM Main Library Masters UM BP42 A2 UM 2003
Wannwi
FELDA dan pembangunan peneroka : satu kajian sosio ekonomi di FELDA
Bukit Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor
FELDA and selers’ development: a socio-economic study in Felda Bukit
Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Wong Siew Tow. 2000 UM Zaa’ba Academic Exercise UM PL5065 2000 Won
FELDA Gunung Besout, Sungkai Perak : njauan dari aspek ekonomi FELDA Gunung Besout, Sungkai Perak: a review of the economic aspects Rusilawa Said 1999 UM Malay Studies Project Paper UM PL5065 1999 Russ
Pendatang Indonesia di Felda Bukit Cherakah Selangor : kajian latar
belakang penempatan, ekonomi dan sosial
FELDA schemes of Papan Timur: a case study on the socio-economic
aspects
Ahmad Adli bin
Yusof.
1997 UM Zaa’ba Academic Exercise UM PL5065 1997 Ahmay
Rancangan FELDA Papan Timur : satu kajian kes mengenai aspek sosio-
ekonomi peneroka
FELDA schemes East board: a case study on the socio-economic aspects
of selers
Salawa Saringat 1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise UM BP43.1 M41997 SALS
Peranan wanita dalam pembangunan ekonomi keluarga di kawasan
Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (FELDA) : satu kajian di FELDA
Keratong Dua, Pahang Darulmakmur
The role of women in family economic development in the area of the
Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA): a study in FELDA Keratong
Two, Pahang Darulmakmur
Masliza bt.
Shahadan
1996 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise UM BP43 M41996 Mass
Pembangunan tanah : usaha dan pencapaiannya Land development: eorts and achievements FELDA 1995 UM Main Library HD890.6 Z63Pem
Pendatang Indonesia di rancangan Felda Gugusan Sungai Koyan, Raub,
Pahang : proses kemasukan dan implikasi sosio-ekonomi
Indonesian immigrants in Felda Sungai Koyan cluster, Raub, Pahang:
admission process and socio-economic implicaons
Marsitah bte.
Mohd. Radzi.
1991 UM Main Library Masters UM DS595.2 I5Marmr
Women’s parcipaon in small ruminant enterprise : a case study of three
Felda schemes
in Negeri Sembilan
Women’s parcipaon in small ruminant enterprise : a case study of three
Felda schemes in Negeri Sembilan
Jahara Yahaya 1991 UM Main Library Book HD6073 A292M4Jah
Peningkatan taraf hidup peneroka Felda : satu kajian di Felda Kesidang,
Pahang
Improvement of living standards of Felda selers: a study in Felda
Kesidang, Pahang
Zainudin bin
Bahdon
1991 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise UM BP43 M41991 Zaib
Parcipaon of adult learners in the program decision-making process : a
study of FELDA schemes in Malaysia
Parcipaon of adult learners in the program decision-making process: a
study of FELDA schemes in Malaysia
Aminah bin
Ahmad
1989 UM Main Library Phd U of Wisconsin
Madison
HD890.6 Z63Amia
Strategi pembangunan Felda / oleh, Datuk
Alladin Hashim
Felda’s development strategies / by Datuk Alladin Hashim Datuk Alladin
Hashim
1988 UM Main Library Book LG173.1 U83.8 I6
Pembangunan luar bandar : kajian ke atas migrasi, aspirasi dan persepsi
generasi kedua peneroka FELDA
Rural development: studies on migraon, aspiraons and percepons of
second-generaon Felda selers
Suria bin Ghazali 1988 UM Main Library Masters UM HD890.6 Z63Surg
Sejauh manakah rancangan FELDA dapat meningkatkan taraf hidup
peneroka : satu kajian kes di rancangan FELDA Bukit Senggeh, Jasin,
Melaka
The extent that Felda schemes can improve the lives of the selers: a case
study of Felda Bukit Senggeh, Jasin, Melaka
Zamnah bin Haji
Hashim
1988 UM Zaa’ba Academic Exercise HB31 1987/88
Zamhh
Kesatuan dan instusi dalam masyarakat FELDA : satu njauan mengenai
bentuk dan fungsi
Associaons and instuons in FELDA society: an overview of the form
and funcon
Rokiah Talib 1984 UM Main Library Book HD890.6 Z8J7Rokt
Clients’ commitment to a project in a group farming organizaon : a study
of Felda schemes
in Malaysia /
Clients’ commitment to a project in a group farming organizaon : a study
of Felda schemes in Malaysia /
Rahim Md. Sail 1983 UM Main Library Phd U of Wisconsin
Madison
HD890.6 Z7Rahms
Table A2: Selected Literature Lisng on Felda and Felda Smallholders
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
76
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
Local parcipaon in rural development planning : a case study of
selements established by Felda
in West Malaysia
Local parcipaon in rural development planning : a case study of
selements established by Felda in West Malaysia
Tilakasena
Abeyrama and Karl
E. Weber
1983 UM Main Library Book HN700.6 Z9C6Abe
Kedudukan sosio-ekonomi anak-anak peneroka Felda di negeri Melaka Socio-economic status of children of Felda selers in Melaka Hassan Naziri bin
Khalid
1980 UM Main Library Masters UM HD890.6 Z8M4Hasnk
Ke arah masyarakat petani moden kelas menengah Towards a modern middle class farming society Harris Mohd.
Salleh, Datuk.
1980 UM Main Library Speech .. HC497 M22S2Harms
Technical and allocave eciency on independent and Felda rubber
smallholdings : a summary
Technical and allocave eciency on independent and Felda rubber
smallholdings : a summary
Abdullah bin
Sepien.
1979 UM Main Library Book HD9161 M22Abds
Pembangunan komuni di rancangan Felda : satu kajian kes di rancangan
Felda Sungai Tiang, Kedah
Community development in Felda schemes: a case study in Felda Sungai
Tiang, Kedah
Yaacob Harun 1975 UM Main Library Masters HN700.6 K28Yaah
Peningkatan taraf hidup peneroka Felda : satu kajian di Felda Kesidang,
Pahang
Improvement of living standards of Felda selers: a study in Felda
Kesidang, Pahang
Zainudin bin
Bahdon
1991 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise UM BP43 M41991 Zaib
Parcipaon of adult learners in the program decision-making process : a
study of FELDA schemes in Malaysia
Parcipaon of adult learners in the program decision-making process: a
study of FELDA schemes in Malaysia
Aminah bin
Ahmad
1989 UM Main Library Phd U of Wisconsin
Madison
HD890.6 Z63Amia
Strategi pembangunan Felda / oleh, Datuk Alladin Hashim Felda’s development strategies / by Datuk Alladin Hashim Datuk Alladin
Hashim
1988 UM Main Library Book LG173.1 U83.8 I6
Pembangunan luar bandar : kajian ke atas
migrasi, aspirasi dan persepsi generasi kedua peneroka FELDA
Rural development: studies on migraon, aspiraons and percepons of
second-generaon Felda selers
Suria bin Ghazali 1988 UM Main Library Masters UM HD890.6 Z63Surg
Sejauh manakah rancangan FELDA dapat meningkatkan taraf hidup
peneroka : satu kajian kes di rancangan FELDA Bukit Senggeh, Jasin,
Melaka
The extent that Felda schemes can improve the lives of the selers: a case
study of Felda Bukit Senggeh, Jasin, Melaka
Zamnah bin Haji
Hashim
1988 UM Zaa’ba Academic Exercise HB31 1987/88
Zamhh
Kesatuan dan instusi dalam masyarakat FELDA : satu njauan mengenai
bentuk dan fungsi
Associaons and instuons in FELDA society: an overview of the form
and funcon
Rokiah Talib 1984 UM Main Library Book HD890.6 Z8J7Rokt
Clients’ commitment to a project in a group farming organizaon : a study
of Felda schemes in Malaysia /
Clients’ commitment to a project in a group farming organizaon : a study
of Felda schemes in Malaysia /
Rahim Md. Sail 1983 UM Main Library Phd U of Wisconsin
Madison
HD890.6 Z7Rahms
Local parcipaon in rural development planning : a case study of
selements established by Felda in West Malaysia
Local parcipaon in rural development planning : a case study of
selements established by Felda in West Malaysia
Tilakasena
Abeyrama and Karl
E. Weber
1983 UM Main Library Book HN700.6 Z9C6Abe
Kedudukan sosio-ekonomi anak-anak peneroka Felda di negeri Melaka Socio-economic status of children of Felda selers in Melaka Hassan Naziri bin
Khalid
1980 UM Main Library Masters UM HD890.6 Z8M4Hasnk
Ke arah masyarakat petani moden kelas menengah Towards a modern middle class farming society Harris Mohd.
Salleh, Datuk.
1980 UM Main Library Speech .. HC497 M22S2Harms
Technical and allocave eciency on independent and Felda rubber
smallholdings : a summary
Technical and allocave eciency on independent and Felda rubber
smallholdings : a summary
Abdullah bin
Sepien.
1979 UM Main Library Book HD9161 M22Abds
Pembangunan komuni di rancangan Felda : satu kajian kes di rancangan
Felda Sungai Tiang, Kedah
Community development in Felda schemes: a case study in Felda Sungai
Tiang, Kedah
Yaacob Harun 1975 UM Main Library Masters HN700.6 K28Yaah
Syarahan FELDA : satu pengenalan rengkas terhadap masyarakat desa dari
segi struktur, organisasi dan masaalah / disunng oleh, Sharifah Zaleha
Hassan dan Mohd Dahlan Hj. Aman
FELDA lectures: A brief introducon to the rural community in terms of
structure, organizaon and problems / edited by Sharifah zaleha Hassan
and Hj Mohd Dahlan. safe
Sharifah Zaleha
Hassan dan Mohd
Dahlan Hj. Aman.
1975 UM Main Library Lecture Series UKM HD890.6 Z63Sya
Tekanan Kerja Dalam Kalangan Peneroka Felda Working Pressure Among Selers Farah Hafsah bin
Mohd Noor
2014 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6
A82013/2014
Farhmn
Status Pekerjaan Generasi Pertama Masa Kini di Felda Sungai Tekam Utara,
Jerantut, Pahang
Present Employment Status of First Generaon Selers in Felda Sungai
Utara Tekam, Jerantut, Pahang
Khairulnisa bin
Jamaludin
2013 UM Zaa’ba DS 521 2012/2013
Khaj
Pengambilan Daun Ketum dalam Masyarakat Felda Kajian Kes: Felda Batu
Papan, Gua Musang
Case Study of Daun Ketum (Mitragyna speciosa) consumpon in Felda
Community: Felda Batu Papan, Gua Musang
Mod Yuszairi Has
bin Ismail
2013 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6A82012/13
Mohyhi
Tanaman di Sekitar Rumah Felda Chiku Dua, Gua Musang Kelantan Plants in Gardens Around Felda Chiku Dua, Gua Musang Kelantan Norazila bin Juso 2011 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42011 Norj
Kesan Penempatan semula Penduduk Felda Terhadap Perubahan
Sosioekonomi Peneroka di Felda Gunung Bongsu Karangan Kedah
Eect of Reselement and Socioeconomic Changes towards Felda selers
in Felda Gunung Bongsu, Karangan, Kedah
Nor Hidayah bin
Ismail
2011 UM Zaa’ba G 77M42011 Norhi
Perbezaan Sosioekonomi Masyarakat Peneroka Sebelum dan Selepas
Penanaman Semula. Kajian Kes di Felda Jengka 21, Pahang
Socioeconomic dierences Seler Society Before and Aer Replanng.
Case Studies in Felda 21, Pahang
Abdul Rashid bin
Jaafar
2011 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42011 abdrj
Pembangunan Felda, impak ke atas alam sekitar dan manusia : kajian di
Felda Jengka 21, Bandar Jengka, Pahang
Felda development, the impact on the Environment and Humans:A case
study in Felda Jengka 21, Bandar Jengka, Pahang
Si Salwahunah
bin Abdul Kadir
2011 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42011 Sitsak
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study 77
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
Pembangunan & Perubahan Sosioekonomi Masyarakat Felda, Kajian Kes:
Felda Kemahang 3, Tanah Merah, Kelantan
Community Development & Socioeconomic Change in Felda Society,
Case Study: Felda Kemahang 3, Tanah Merah, Kelantan
Nurul Aida bin
Azakaria
2010 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42010 Nuraz
Pencapaian Tahap sosioekonomi Peserta Felda. Kajian Kes: Di Felda Bukit
Rokan, Gemencheh, Negeri Sembilan
Parcipants Felda socioeconomic level of achievement. Case Study: In
Felda Bukit Rau, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Mohd Azuan bin
Budin
2010 UM Zaa’ba G 77M42010 Mohab
Impak Sektor Perkilangan Sawit Kepada Alam Sekitar Manusia Palm Manufacturing Sector Impacts on the Environment Nor Azura bin Ali 2009 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42009 Noraa
Projek Penanaman Semula Kelapa Sawit: Kajian Kes di Felda Ulu Penggeli,
Kluang Johor
Oil Palm Replanng Project: A Case Study in Felda Ulu Penggeli, Kluang
Johor
D. Nurul A’in bin
Mohd Tahir
2009 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42009 Dhamt
Hubungan Etnik (Melayu dan Cina) di Pahang: Kajian Kes di Felda Mela
Jengka 11, Bandar Jengka
Ethnic Relaons (Malay and Chinese) in Pahang: A Case Study in Felda
Mela Jengka 11, Bandar Jengka
Noor-Aida bin
Ishak
2009 UM Zaa’ba PL 50652009 Nooai
Pembangunan Serta Sosioekonomi di Tanah Rancangan Felda & Kesannya
Kepada alam sekitar: Kajian Kes di Felda Besout, Perak
Development and Socio-Economic Plan in a Felda Scheme &
Consequences to the Environment: Case Study in Felda Besout, Perak
Mohd Asrul Mizat B
Halim
2009 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42009
Mohamh
Perubahan Corak Gunatanah Getah ke Kalapa Sawit.Kajian Kes: Felda
Palong 3, Gemas, Negeri Sembilan
Land Use Paern Changes from Rubber to Palm Oil Case Study: Felda
Palong 3, Gemas, Negeri Sembilan
Khairol Anuar B
Lap
2008 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42008 Khaal
Pembangunan Perladangan Tebu. Satu Kajian Mengenai Pembangunan, Isu
dan Cabaran di Felda Chuping, Perlis
Sugarcane Plantaon Development. A Study of the Development, Issues
and Challenges in Felda Chuping, Perlis
Dasyirul B Darahoh 2008 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42008 Dasd
Penglibatan Masyarakat Peneroka Felda di Dalam Industri Kecil &
Sederhana (IKS) Kajian Kes: Wilayah Jengka
Community Involvement of Felda Selers in the Small & Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) Case Studies: Jengka Region
Yuslia Murni bt
Ngadenin@M.
Yusman
2007 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42007 Yusmn
Pendidikan Anak-anak Felda: Kajian Kes di Felda Chiku Dua, Gua Musang,
Kelantan
Educaon of Felda Children : A Case Study in Felda Chiku Dua, Gua
Musang, Kelantan
Mohd Yusri bin
Juso
2006 UM Zaa’ba PL 50652006 Mohyj
Usaha Untuk Meningkatkan Pendapatan
Peneroka Felda: Kajian Kes di Felda Lembah Klau, Raub, Pahang
Eorts To Increase Revenue of Felda Selers: A Case Study in Felda
Lembah Klau, Raub, Pahang
Aminah bin Abdul
Aziz
2005 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42005 Amiaa
Perkembangan Felda dengan Rujukan Khas Segiga Jengka (1971 - 1990) Felda development with Special Reference to the Jengka Triangle (1971 -
1990)
Norumiza bin
Mohammad
2005 UM Zaa’ba DS 5962005 Norm
Felda dan Pembangunan Peneroka: Satu Kajian Kes di Felda Lembah Klau
Raub, Pahang
Felda and Selers Development: A Case Study in Felda Lembah Klau Raub,
Pahang
Mastura bun Abd
Manaf
2004 UM Zaa’ba PL 50652004 Masam
Pembangunan dan Perubahan Sosio ekonomi Masyarakat Felda: Satu
Kajian Kes di Felda Lembah Klau, Raub Pahang
Socio-economic development and change in Felda Community: A Case
Study in Felda Lembah Klau, Raub, Pahang
Norhaziana bin
Zulkeply
2004 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82003/04
Norz
Perancangan Keluarga di Kalangan Wanita
Melayu Luar Bandar:Kajian Kes di Felda Lepar
Hilir 2, Kuantan, Pahang
Family Planning Among Rural Malays Women: A Case Study in Felda Lepar
Hilir 2, Kuantan, Pahang
Rosilawa bt
Mahamad Jusob
2002 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82001/02
Rosmj
Migrasi Keluar di Kalangan generasi Kedua Peneroka India: Suatu Kajian
Kes di Rancangan Felda Palong Dua
Out migraon among Second Generaon Indian Selers: A Case Study in
Felda Palong Two
Navarathina a/p
Ramalingam
2002 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82001/02
Nav
Penduduk Felda di ambang 2004: Kajian Kes di Felda Besout 2, Sungai
Perak
Felda populaon on the verge of 2004: Case Study in Felda Besout 2,
Sungai Perak
Yuslafah bin
Yuso
2002 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42002 Yusmy
Kesihatan Wanita: Satu Kajian Kes di Felda Lepar Hilir 2, Kuantan Pahang Women’s Health: A Case Study in Felda Lepar Hilir 2, Kuantan Pahang Sharedawa Ahmad 2001 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82001/02
Shaa
Pembangunan dan Perubahan Sosial Masyarakat Peneroka Felda: Kajian
Kes di Gugusan Felda Chiku, Gua Musang, Kelantan
Community Development and Social Changes among Felda Selers: A
Case Study in Felda Chiku, Gua Musang, Kelantan
Khuzaima bt Ismail 2001 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82000/01
Khui
Belia dan Pekerjaan: Satu Kajian Kes Generasi Kedua Felda Lepar Hilir 3,
Gambang Pahang
Youth and Employment: A Case Study of Second Generaon Felda selers
in Felda Lepar Hilir 3, Gambang, Pahang
Maliana bin
Remeli
2001 UM Zaa’ba HN 700.6 A82000/01
Malr
Pengurusan Alam sekitar: Satu Kajian di Kawasan Pertanian (FELDA)
Daerah Batang Padang Perak
Environmental Management: A Study of an Agricultural Area (FELDA) in
Batang Padang District, Perak
Nor Azean bin
Tarmizi
2000 UM Zaa’ba G77 M42000 Norat
Penglibatan buruh-buruh Indonesia di sektor perladangan kelapa sawit :
satu kajian kes di FELDA Pasoh Tiga, Batu Kikir, Negeri Sembilan
Involvement of Indonesia labourers in the oil palm sector: a case study in
FELDA Pasoh Tiga, Batu Kikir, Negeri Sembilan
Roazmizah bin
Azmi.
1999 UM Zaa’ba DS521 1999 Roama
Peranan dan fungsi pertubuhan peneroka dalam masyarakat di Tanah
Rancangan: kajian kes di FELDA Jengka Tiga, Pahang
The role and funcon of seler organizaons in the Land Scheme in
sociees: a case study in FELDA Jengka Tiga, Pahang
Mohd Nasran Abd
Halim
1998 UM Zaa’ba BA UM HN 700.6 A81997/98
Mohnah
Peranan keluarga dalam membendung masalah sosial di dalam komuni
FELDA : kajian kes di FELDA Chemplak Barat Labis Segamat Johor
The role of the family in prevenng social problems in the FELDA
community: a case study in FELDA Chemplak Barat Labis, Johor
Junainah bin
Jamal.
1998 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6
A81997/98Junj
Penanaman semula kelapa sawit di tanah rancangan: satu kajian kes di
FELDA Sungai Panching Selatan
Oil palm replanng on reseled land: a case study in Felda Sungai
Panching Selatan
Moh Zawawi bin
Mat Tahar
1997 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6
A81996/97Mohzmt
Penanaman semula kelapa sawit FELDA : satu kajian kes di FELDA Bukit
Goh, Kuantan, Pahang
FELDA oil palm replanng: a case study in Felda Bukit Goh, Kuantan,
Pahang
Anita Bin Abd.
Jabar.
1997 UM Zaa’ba HB31 1996/97 Aniaj
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
78
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
FELDA dan pembangunan peneroka : satu kajian sosio-ekonomi di FELDA
Sahabat
FELDA and seler development: a socio-economic study in Felda Sahabat Sannang bin
Pasalon.
1997 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6 A81996/97
Sanp
Buruh-buruh Indonesia dalam sektor perladangan kelapa sawit : kajian kes
di FELDA Sening, Kota Tinggi, Johor /
Indonesian workers in the oil palm sector: a case study in FELDA Sening,
Kota Tinggi, Johor /
Hasnor Faiz
Mohammad Salleh.
1997 UM Zaa’ba DS521 1997 Hasfms
FELDA Sebagai Agensi Pemodenan Orang
Melayu; Satu Kajian di Felda Keratong 1 Pahang Darul Makmur
FELDA As Modernisaon Agency Orang Melayu; A study in Felda Keratong
1 Pahang Darul Makmur
Norhazida bt Hasan 1996 UM Zaa’ba BA UM HN700.6A81995/96
Kehidupan polik di kalangan komuni luar bandar : kajian kes di FELDA
Cini 3, Pekan, Pahang Darul Makmur
Polical life in rural communies: a case study in Felda Cini 3, Pekan,
Pahang Darul Makmur
Maizatul bin Abdul
Majid.
1996 UM Zaa’ba BA UM HN700.6 A81995/96
Maiam
Budaya pengguna di kalangan penduduk luar bandar : satu kajian di FELDA
Ulu Belitong,
Kluang, Johor
Consumer culture among the rural populaon: a study in FELDA Ulu
Belitong, Kluang, Johor
Ahmad Farid Abd.
Jalal.
1996 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6 A81995/96
Ahmfaj
Kajian kes migrasi tenaga buruh dari sektor perladangan ke sektor
perindustrian : merujuk kawasan Felda Air Tawar 3, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Darul Ta’azim
Case study of labor migraon from the plantaon sector to the industrial
sector: referring to Felda Air Tawar 3, Kota Tinggi, Johor Darul Ta’azim
Noor Khairi bin
Pungut
1995 UM Zaa’ba G77 M41995 Nookp
Pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan terhadap perancang keluarga : satu kajian
ke atas
penduduk FELDA Sg. Mas, Kota Tinggi, Johor /
Knowledge, atude and pracce of family planning: a case study on the
populaon FELDA Sg. Mas, Kota Tinggi, Johor /
Rusidah bte Mohd.
Akil.
1994 UM Zaa’ba G77 M41994 Rusma
Pembangunan instusi peneroka FELDA Bukit Puchong dalam menangani
masalah kemiskinan /
Development of Bukit Puchong Seler Instuons in addressing the
problem of poverty /
Rosni bin Kuris 1994 UM Zaa’ba G77 M41994 Rosk
Propensi migrasi di kalangan generasi kedua : sebuah kajian kes di Felda
Bukit Aping Timur, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Propensity of migraon among the second generaon: a case study in
Felda Bukit Aping Timur, Kota Tinggi, Johor
M. Azahari bin Edin. 1994 UM Zaa’ba G77 M41994 Maze
Organisasi tenaga kerja di Felda Kemendor Labor organizaon in Felda Kemendor Norma Mohd Saleh 1992 UM Zaa’ba BA UM PL5065 1992 Norms
Rancangan tanah Felda Sungai Behrang, Slim River, Perak : njauan aspek
sosio-ekonomi peneroka)/
Felda Sungai Behrang, Slim River, Perak: a review of socio-economic
aspects of selers
Rosilawa bin Md.
Daud.
1992 UM Zaa’ba PL5065 1992 Rosmd
Kehidupan sosial pendatang tanpa izin Indonesia : kajian kes di Felda
Kampung New Zealand, Maran, Pahang Darul Makmur
Social life of illegal immigrants Indonesia: a case study in Felda Bukit New
Zealand, Maran, Pahang Darul Makmur
Nazarudin Abu
Bakar
1992 UM Zaa’ba PL5065 1992 Nazab
Integrasi dan konik dikalangan peneroka FELDA : satu kajian case di
FELDA Lurah Bilut
Integraon and conict among FELDA selers: a case study in FELDA
Lurah Bilut
Zainal bin Mat Saat 1985 UM Zaa’ba HD890.6 Z8P1Zaims
Penglibatan Generasi Pertama Masyarakat Felda Bukit Aping Timur di
Dalam Kumpulan Sosial dan Keugamaan
Involvement of the First Generaon of Felda Bukit Aping East Community
in the Social and Religious Groups
Ishak Radzi 1984 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6 A81983/84
Ishr
Kumpulan sosial di rancangan felda bukit Serampang / Social groups in the design felda hill Serampang / Kalsom Semon. 1983 UM Zaa’ba HN700.6 A81982/83
Kalse
Keberkesanan perancangan Felda ke atas generasi kedua : satu kajian kes
di Felda Bukit Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Felda scheme eecveness on the second generaon: a case study in
Felda Bukit Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Rosiah Hamid. UM Zaa’ba HB31 1994/95 Rosh
Sejauh manakah rancangan FELDA dapat meningkatkan taraf hidup
peneroka : satu kajian kes di rancangan FELDA Bukit Senggeh, Jasin,
Melaka
The extent of the schemes can improve the lives of the selers : a case
study on the schemes Bukit Senggeh, Jasin, Melaka
Zamnah bin Haji
Hashim
1988 UM Zaa’ba HB31 1987/88
ZAMHH
Pelaksanaan dan keberkesanan kaedah pengajian al-Qur’an dalam kalangan
masyarakat Felda : kajian di Felda Bukit Goh Kuantan, Pahang
Implementaon and eecveness of Qur’an study methods in the Felda
community : a study in Felda Bukit Goh Kuantan , Pahang
Haizuran bin Mohd
Jani.
2013 UM Islamic Studies Masters BP42 A2 UM 2013
Haimj
Isu-isu tuntutan harta sepencarian di tanah Felda Semenchu, Kota Tinggi,
Johor / Khairul Firdaus Mohamad
Issues of matrimonial property claims in Felda land Semenchu , Kota Tinggi
, Johor / Khairul Mohamad Firdaus
Khairul Firdaus
Mohamad
2007 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43
M42007KHAFM
Program dakwah : kajian mengenai sambutan
dan permasalahannya di Felda Trolak Selatan Perak / Yusmaliza Yusof.
Missionary program : a study on the response and the problems in Felda
Trolak Selatan, Perak
Yusmaliza Yusof. 2003 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M42003
YUSY
Gejala sosial di kalangan remaja masa kini di
Felda Keratong 2, Pahang Darul Makmur
Social problems among youth in Felda Keratong 2, Pahang Darul Makmur Samsiah Sharif. 2003 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M42003
SAMS
Kajian mengenai sambutan masyarakat Felda Mayam Triang, Pahang
terhadap akvi dakwah
Study on community response in Felda Mayam Triang, Pahang to
missionary acvity
Norjannatun
Shamsir Alam.
2003 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M42003
NORSA
Kajian sosio-ekonomi masyarakat peneroka di Felda Kemahang 2 Tanah
Merah Kelantan
Study on socio -economic development of Felda selers in Felda
Kemahang 2, Tanah Merah, Kelantan
Mohd Suhazizi
Sulaiman.
2003 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M42003
MOHSS
Masalah moral di kalangan orang dewasa : suatu kajian di-Felda Trolak
Timur Perak
Moral problems among adults : a study in Felda Trolak Timur, Perak Mohd Nazri Umar 2002 UM Islamic Studies BP43.1 M42002
SITFMI
Konsep persaudaraan Islam : satu kajian kes di Felda Kemahang 2, Tanah
Merah, Kelantan
The concept of Islamic brotherhood : a case study in Felda Kemahang 2,
Tanah Merah, Kelantan
Rosidah Yusof 2002 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M42002
ROSY
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study 79
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
Adat amalan dan kepercayaan khurafat dalam perkahwinan masyarakat
Melayu : suatu kajian di Felda Keratong 4, Pahang Darul Makmur
Customary pracces and supersous beliefs in weddings among
tradional Malay society: a study in Felda Keratong 4 , Pahang Darul
Makmur
Abu Bakar Jaafar 2001 UM Islamic Studies BP43.2 M4 2001
ABUBJ
Amalan menjual buah-buahan yang masih di atas pokok : satu kajian di
Felda Temen, Triang, Pahang
The pracce of selling fruit sll on the trees : a study in Felda Temen,
Triang, Pahang
Asmuriza
Mohamad.
2000 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M42000 ASMM
Konsep dan perlaksanaan aqiqah di kalangan masyarakat Islam : kajian
khusus di Felda Simpang Wa Ha, Kota Tinggi, Johor Darul Takzim /
Concept and implementaon of ‘aqiqah’ (sacric of an animal on the
occassion of a child’s birth) among the Muslim community : specic study
in Felda Simpang Wa Ha , Kota Tinggi , Johor / Hairayu Haron
Hairayu Haron. 2000 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M42000 HAIH
Gejala sosial remaja : satu kajian di FELDA Kumai, Triang, Pahang Social ills among adolescents: a study in FELDA Kumai, Triang, Pahang Noor Aida Bin
Hushin
1998 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41998
NOOAH
Penyusuan ibu : satu kajian di kalangan wanita bekerja di Ibu Pejabat
FELDA, Kuala Lumpur
Breaseeding : a study of working women in the FELDA Headquarters ,
Kuala Lumpur
Azilawa bin Amat
Yasin
1998 UM Islamic Studies BP43 M41998 Aziay
Rancangan FELDA Papan Timur : satu kajian kes mengenai aspek sosio-
ekonomi peneroka
FELDA Papan Timur : a case study on the socio- economic aspects of
selers
Salawa Saringat. 1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41997 SALS
Akvi-akvi Dakwah di kalangan masyarakat FELDA : satu kajian khusus
tdi FELDA Jengka 4, Maran, Pahang
Missionary acvies among FELDA communies: a special study tdi
FELDA Jengka 4, Maran, Pahang
Maryana bin Alias. 1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41997
MARA
Sistem pemberian hakmilik tanah Felda Kemahang mengikut pandangan
Islam
Felda land alienaon system in Kemahang according to the Islamic view Ahmad Raddi
Abdullah
1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise P43 M41997 AHMRA
Pemberimilikan dan pembangunan tanah pertanian sebagai satu cara
menangani masalah kemiskinan : kejayaan yang dicapai oleh agensi Felda
Alienaon and the development of agricultural land as a way of addressing
the problem of poverty : the success achieved by the Felda agency
Hishammuddin
Abd. Aziz.
1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41997 HISAA
Peranan Gabungan Persatuan Wanita (GPW) dalam meningkatkan taraf
sosial wanita : satu kajian di Felda Sungai Koyan 1, Raub, Pahang Darul
Makmur
Role of Women’s Associaons ( GPW ) in improving the social status of
women : a study in Felda Sungai Koyan 1, Raub, Pahang Darul Makmur
Haslinda Mat Tozi 1997 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41997
HASMT
Peranan FELDA di dalam memperseimbangkan kefahaman Islam dan
pembangunan ekonomi : satu kajian di FELDA Bukit Mendi, Triang, Pahang
Darul Makmur / Nazlina bin Sadali.
FELDA ‘s role in promong a beer understanding of Islam and economic
development : a study in Felda Bukit Mendi, Triang , Pahang Darul Makmur
Nazlina Sadali 1995 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41995
NAZS
Sekolah rendah agama di Felda : peranan dan sumbangannya di dalam
pendidikan Islam
kepada anak-anak peneroka ; suatu kajian khusus di Felda Bukit Goh,
Kuantan, Pahang
Islamic primary schools in Felda : its role and contribuon in Islamic
educaon of the selers’ children: a specic study in Felda Bukit Goh,
Kuantan, Pahang
Noraini bin Ismail. 1993 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41993
NORI
Sebab-sebab berlakunya kemiskinan menurut
al-Quran dan as-Sunnah : satu kajian khusus terhadap sebab berlakunya
kemiskinan di kalangan masyarakat Felda Sg. Tengi, Hulu Selangor
Causes of poverty according to the Qur’an and as- Sunnah : a special study
of the causes of poverty among the Felda Sg. Tengi, Hulu Selangor
Ahmad Faisol
b . Bakri @ Hj .
Baharudin
1993 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41993
AHMFB
Peranan masjid dalam pembangunan pendidikan agama di FELDA : kajian
di Jengka 16
The role of the mosque in the development of religious educaon in
FELDA : studies in Jengka 16
Nora bin Ngarif. 1993 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41993 NORN
Penerokaan tanah di Malaysia : cara dan perlaksanaan menurut perspekf
Islam, kajian di Felda Keratong 5, Pahang Darul Makmur
Land reselement in Malaysia : how and implementaon according to the
Islamic perspecve , studies in Felda Keratong 5 , Pahang Darul Makmur
Famah bin Ngah. 1992 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41992 Fatn
Semangat kejiranan menurut perspekf Islam : kajian khusus di Felda
Soeharto, Hulu Selangor, Selangor
Neighborliness according to Islamic perspecve : specic studies in Felda
Soeharto , Hulu Selangor , Selangor
Kamaliah Kassan. 1992 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41992
Kamk
Peningkatan taraf hidup peneroka Felda : satu kajian di Felda Kesidang,
Pahang
Improvement of living standards among Felda selers : a study in Felda
Kesidang, Pahang
Zainudin bin
Bahdon
1991 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41991 Zaib
Perancang keluarga menurut perspekf Islam
dan reali masyarakat kini : satu kajian di FELDA Soeharto, Hulu Selangor
Family planning from the perspecve of Islam and the reality of today’s
society : a study in FELDA Soeharto , Hulu Selangor
Hanifah bt Abd.
Aziz
1990 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41990
HANAA
Akvi keIslaman dan penerimaannya di kalangan masyarakat peneroka :
njauan khusus di Felda Tenang Besut, Jerteh, Terengganu
Islamic acvies and acceptance among the selers : specic review in
Felda Tenang Besut, Jerteh, Terengganu
Maznah Abd
Rahman
1990 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41990
MAZAR
Perancang keluarga menurut perspekf Islam
dan reali masyarakat kini : satu kajian di FELDA Soeharto, Hulu Selangor
Family planning from the perspecve of Islam
and the reality of today’s society : a study in FELDA Soeharto , Hulu
Selangor
Hanifah bt Abd.
Aziz
1990 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41990
HANAA
Akvi keIslaman dan penerimaannya di kalangan masyarakat peneroka :
njauan khusus di Felda Tenang Besut, Jerteh, Terengganu
Islamic acvies and acceptance among the selers : specic review in
Felda Tenang Besut, Jerteh, Terengganu
Maznah Abd
Rahman
1990 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41990
MAZAR
Peranan Sekolah Ugama Rakyat Felda Bukit Banding dalam pendidikan
Islam
Role of Community Religious School in Felda Bukit Banding in Islamic
educaon
Lafah Mohd
Tamamuddin
1989 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M4 1989
LATMT
Biro Agama Felda : satu njauan berkenaan pembentukan sosial
masyarakat peneroka
Wilayah Jengka
Felda Religious Bureau : one review in respect
of the formaon of the selers social society in the Jengka District
Zahanuddin
Hashim.
1987 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.1 M41987
ZAHH
Consulng Study 12
The Felda case study
High Carbon Stock Science Study
80
Title Title - translaon to English Author Year published Library Publicaon type University Library reference
Penghayatan Islam di kalangan masyarakat Felda Sg Retang, Retang,
Jerantut, Pahang
Appreciaon of Islam amongst the Felda Sungai Retang, Retang, Jerantut,
Pahang society
Famah Talib 1987 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43.2 M41987 FATT
Pentadbiran Felda dan hukum Islam : satu
njauan khusus bagi Felda Sungai Pancing Selatan, Kuantan, Pahang Darul
Makmur
Felda administraon and Islamic law : a survey
of Felda Sungai Pancing Selatan, Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur
Felda
administraon
and Islamic law:
a survey of Felda
Sungai South Hook,
Kuantan, Pahang
Darul Makmur
1987 UM Islamic Studies Academic Exercise BP43 M41987
MOHIMA
Peneroka Magazine 2014 “Generasi Baharu Memacu Transformasi” Selers Magazine 2014 “New Generaon Driving Transformaon” FELDA 2014 FELDA Library
Adendum Program Kerja 2014 “Bersama Merealisasi Transformasi” Addendum for Work Programme 2014 “Joint Realisaon of
Transformaon”
FELDA 2013 FELDA Library
Program Kerja 2013 “Merealisasikan Transformasi” Work Programme 2013 “Realizaon of Transformaon” FELDA 2013 FELDA Library
Laporan Tahunan 2013 “Teruskan Kegemilangan” Annual Report 2013 “Maintaining Glory” FELDA 2013 FELDA Library
Laporan Tahunan 2012 Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd 2012 Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd Annual Report FELDA 2012 FELDA Library
Laporan Tahunan Kumpulan Felda 2011 Felda Group Annual Report 2011 FELDA 2011 FELDA Library
Soal Jawab Mengenai Felda Quesons and Answers About Felda FELDA 2011 FELDA Library
Program Kerja 2012 “Merealisasi Transformasi” Work Programme 2012 “Realising Transformaon” FELDA 2011 FELDA Library
Jengka 1966 Jengka 1966 Nordin Hussin 2011 FELDA Library
Good Agricultural Pracces in FELDA’s Group of Estates “Towards
Sustainable Palm Oil Producon”
Good Agricultural Pracces in FELDA’s Group of Estates “Towards
Sustainable Palm Oil Producon”
Felda Agricultural
Services
2005 FELDA Library
Sasaran Kerja Felda 2005 “Ke Arah Pengurusan Lebih Berkuali” Felda Work Target 2005 “Towards a Beer Quality of Management” FELDA 2004 FELDA Library
Kit Maklumat Felda Felda Informaon Kit FELDA 2004 FELDA Library
Urusan Tanam Semula Managing Replanng 2000 FELDA Library
Rancangan Kerja 2000 “Felda 2000: Penguasaan Teknologi” Work Plan 2000 “Felda 2000: Mastering Technology” FELDA 1999 FELDA Library
Bantuan Tanam Semula Rancangan Getah Rubber Scheme Replanng Aid 1999 FELDA Library
Tanam Semula Rancangan Sawit Palm Replanng Plan 1997 FELDA Library
Tanam Semula Rancangan Sawit Palm Replanng Plan 1993 FELDA Library
Menguruskan Kebun Sawit Peneroka yang telah Selesai Bayaran Kembali Manage Palm Oil Smallholdings Where Selers Have Completed Loan
Repayment
1992 FELDA Library
Kertas Penerangan Mengenai Tanam Semula Kawasan Sawit Informaon Paper About Replanng Palm Oil Areas 1991 FELDA Library
Laporan Akvi dan Pencapaian Kumpulan Felda Report on Felda Group Acvies and Achievements FELDA 1990 FELDA Library
Kawasan Pilihanraya bagi Rancangan-Rancangan Felda Electoral Area Plans for Felda 1990 FELDA Library
Laporan Akvi dan Pencapaian Kumpulan Felda Report on Felda Group Acvies and Achievements FELDA 1989 FELDA Library
Lapuran Akvi dan Pencapaian Kumpulan Felda Report on Felda Group Acvies and Achievements FELDA 1989 FELDA Library
Sabah Land Selement and Environmental
Project )Loan 3039 M A) Sahabat 1 to 35
Setlement Schemes
Sabah Land Selement and Environmental Project )Loan 3039 M A)
Sahabat 1 to 35 Selement Schemes
1989 FELDA Library
Perancangan dan Perlaksanaan Pusat-Pusat Perkhidmatan / Bandar
Kawasan Felda
Annual Report of Acvies 1981 Stlers Consultave Commiee FELDA 1986 FELDA Library
Felda and Its Acvies Felda and Its Acvies 1982 FELDA Library
Laporan Tahunan Kegiatan Jawatankuasa Perunding Peneroka 1981 Annual Report of Selers’ Consultave
Commiee Acvies 1981
FELDA 1981 FELDA Library
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