The impact of Samurdhi development program on self-employment motivation of women (A study on self-employed Samurdhi recipient women in Matara district, Sri Lanka)

This paper attempts to study the impact of the Samurdhi development program on the motivation of women for self-employment. The research was conducted by selecting 156 self-employed Samurdhi recipient women in 14 Grama Niladhari Divisions of Kirinda and Hakmana Divisional Secretariats in the Matara District of Sri Lanka using cluster sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data. Data analysis was performed using SmartPLS based on the Partial Least Squire Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that microcredit, vocational training programs, and livelihood development activities have a significant positive impact on the motivation of women for self-employment while entrepreneurship training and infrastructure development have positive and negative relationships, respectively, with women’s motivation for selfemployment, those relationships were not statistically significant. The study concluded that microcredit, vocational training programs, and livelihood development activities under the Samurdhi development program have a significant impact on the motivation of women for self-employment. Therefore, it is appropriate to design the Samurdhi activities to improve further the motivation of women for self-employment.