Sierra Leonean Research Articles

Correlation of mental health level and trait coping styles in the frontline medical staff fighting for Ebola virus

Objective To investigate the stress levels and trait coping style of health-care workers in Sierra Leonean fighting for Ebola virus .Methods Plugged in Sierra Leone friendship hospital in October 2014, 44 medical staff in the frontline were selected to join the research . A self-designed general information questionnaire , the Hamilton Anxiety Scale （ HAMA） and the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire （ TCSQ） were used to investigate .Results The he score of HAMA of the health-care workers in Sierra Leonean fighting for Ebola virus was （19.45 ±12.46）, within which 81.82%（36/44） had anxiety symptoms.The score of positive coping style （PC） and negative coping style （NC） were （32.03 ±7.26） and （25.02 ±3.67）, respectively.Compared with the national norm of TCSQ, there was no significant difference in PC （t=1.328,P>0.05）, but there was significant difference in NC （t=3.360,P<0.05）.HAMA score was positively related with NC （r=0.532, P<0.05）, and negatively correlated with PC （r =-0.493,P <0.05）.Conclusions The medical staff fighting against Ebola outbreak existed different degrees of mental health problems , especially in negative response tendencies .Systematic training and psychological intervention are need for the frontline medical staff , in order to improve the level of mental health . Key words: Ebola virus; Medical staff; Mental health level; Coping style; Correlation

Handling postpartum haemorrhage- obstetrics between tradition and modernity in post-war Sierra Leone.

How traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in post-war Sierra Leone explain, handle and prevent postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and their potential role in a better management of PPH to reduce maternal mortality in this low resource setting. Semi-quantitative interviews about knowledge and measures in PPH and participant observation with 140 Sierra Leonean birth attendants, divided in three groups: (A) TBAs who never attended any official training course (n = 82); (B) TBAs who attended at least one official training course (n = 48); and (C) officially trained birth attendants (n = 10). There are several observable gaps in the knowledge of TBAs about PPH compared to modern obstetrics, however similar procedures exist. Herbal medicine is applied; metaphysical convictions about PPH remain present. Training courses show an impact. Officially trained birth attendants demonstrate knowledge deficiencies and lack resources and infrastructure to manage PPH adequately. Morbidity and mortality of PPH in Sierra Leone is related to several factors and not solely to the ignorance of TBAs. TBAs still play an important role for many women there. Hence improvement of the formal health sector should be combined with life-saving programmes integrating TBAs in the care for the pregnant, delivering and breastfeeding mothers.

Building the capacity of Sierra Leoneans in supply chain on the National Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit (NPPU) project (a case study)

Background A need to strengthen the supply chain and capacity of local supply chain professionals in Sierra Leone was identified following a supply chain assessment in 2010. In 2012, Crown Agents was contracted to undertake a project to set up and manage the National Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit project and build local capacity over a 3 year period. The project team consists of international supply chain professionals and their Sierra Leonean counterparts to whom they are tasked with building capacity.

Agency, Race, and Christianity in the Strange Career of Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce

For several decades, agency has been a central concept in the historical study of Christian missions, yet it remains more frequently invoked than analyzed. This article explores the formulation of evangelical protestant beliefs about human agency in the context of efforts to evangelize the world. It does so by examining the fraught relationship between a Sierra Leonean Christian missionary named Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce and the United Brethren in Christ, an American denomination that first championed and later disfellowshipped him. Wilberforce experienced a fleeting American celebrity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, largely because his story could be told to promote competing interpretations of African agency. This article details the temporal and spatial components of evangelical conceptions of heathenism and human agency, their use by Wilberforce, and their collision with notions of human nature grounded in scientific racism. It draws on private and public interpretations of Wilberforce's story, including his dramatic fall from favor among his evangelical supporters, to argue that historical constructions of agency informed and were shaped by missionary activity. The recovery of Wilberforce's story, and of the debates that swirled around him, advances a new way of studying the relationship between agency and Christian missions.

Surgical training during a voluntary medical/surgical camp in sierra leone

There are widespread concerns that surgical trainees are gaining insufficient operative experience. 1,2 such concerns have been highlighted in several studies, identifying a dramatic decline in available operative opportunities. 3,4 One study revealed a 56% fall in less than a decade. 5

Writings on the wall: Chinese material traces in an African landscape

Much current scholarship on ‘Chinese–African relations’ focuses on the monumental projects, the built walls, which are visibly transforming African landscapes, and on the increasing Chinese physical presence on the continent. Instead, this article argues that a focus on the material traces of consumer goods circulating in colonial and post-colonial markets, and in expert knowledge that shaped bodily practices, domestic habits, and rural landscapes over time, yields a more nuanced picture of Chinese–African entanglements. We examine elements of “Chineseness” that inform Sierra Leonean ways of dwelling – particularly of farming rice, and of intervening therapeutically on bodies – but often through intermediaries whose imprints mask Asian origins. Contemporary China-Africa friendship rhetoric stresses bilateralism and palimpsestic reinscriptions of earlier relations, but belies a history in which multiple Chinas struggled for global recognition through partnerships with African countries that articulated with colonial mediations and Cold War alliances.

"Not Designed for Us": How Science Museums and Science Centers Socially Exclude Low-Income, Minority Ethnic Groups.

This paper explores how people from low-income, minority ethnic groups perceive and experience exclusion from informal science education (ISE) institutions, such as museums and science centers. Drawing on qualitative data from four focus groups, 32 interviews, four accompanied visits to ISE institutions, and field notes, this paper presents an analysis of exclusion from science learning opportunities during visits alongside participants’ attitudes, expectations, and conclusions about participation in ISE. Participants came from four community groups in central London: a Sierra Leonean group (n = 21), a Latin American group (n = 18), a Somali group (n = 6), and an Asian group (n = 13). Using a theoretical framework based on the work of Bourdieu, the analysis suggests ISE practices were grounded in expectations about visitors’ scientific knowledge, language skills, and finances in ways that were problematic for participants and excluded them from science learning opportunities. It is argued that ISE practices reinforced participants preexisting sense that museums and science centers were “not for us.” The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings in relation to previous research on participation in ISE and the potential for developing more inclusive informal science learning opportunities.

Failure mode and effects analysis of the universal anaesthesia machine in two tertiary care hospitals in Sierra Leone

BackgroundAnaesthesia care in developed countries involves sophisticated technology and experienced providers. However, advanced machines may be inoperable or fail frequently when placed into the austere medical environment of a developing country. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a method for engaging local staff in identifying real or potential breakdowns in processes or work systems and to develop strategies to mitigate risks.MethodsNurse anaesthetists from the two tertiary care hospitals in Freetown, Sierra Leone, participated in three sessions moderated by a human factors specialist and an anaesthesiologist. Sessions were audio recorded, and group discussion graphically mapped by the session facilitator for analysis and commentary. These sessions sought to identify potential barriers to implementing an anaesthesia machine designed for austere medical environments—the universal anaesthesia machine (UAM)—and also engaging local nurse anaesthetists in identifying potential solutions to these barriers.ResultsParticipating Sierra Leonean clinicians identified five main categories of failure modes (resource availability, environmental issues, staff knowledge and attitudes, and workload and staffing issues) and four categories of mitigation strategies (resource management plans, engaging and educating stakeholders, peer support for new machine use, and collectively advocating for needed resources).ConclusionsWe identified factors that may limit the impact of a UAM and devised likely effective strategies for mitigating those risks.

Prevalence of breast masses and barriers to care: results from a population-based survey in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Breast cancer incidence may be increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study estimates the prevalence of breast masses in Rwanda (RW) and Sierra Leone (SL) and identifies barriers to care for women with breast masses. only. Data were collected from households in RW and SL using Surgeons Overseas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS), a cross-sectional, randomized, cluster-based population survey designed to identify surgical conditions. Data regarding breast masses and barriers to care in women with breast masses were analyzed. 3,469 households (1,626 RW; 1,843 SL) were surveyed and 6,820 persons (3,175 RW; 3,645 SL) interviewed. Breast mass prevalence was 3.3% (SL) and 4.6% (RW). Overall, 93.8% of masses were in women, with 49.1% (SL) and 86.1% (RW) in women >30 years. 73.7% (SL) and 92.4% (RW) of women reported no disability; this was their primary reason for not seeking medical attention. Overall, 36.8% of women who reported masses consulted traditional healers only. For women in RW and SL, minimal education, poverty, and reliance on traditional healers are barriers to medical care for breast masses. Public health programs to increase awareness and decrease barriers are necessary to lower breast cancer mortality rates in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

The effects of epilepsy on child education in Sierra Leone

Epilepsy is associated with a significant burden of false beliefs and social stigma in the setting of Sub-Saharan Africa. To assess the impacts of epilepsy on child education in Sierra Leone (SL), we carried out a cross-sectional descriptive study examining its effects on school attendance, participation in physical activities, and social acceptance among classmates. We also assessed the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding epilepsy of both the children's caregivers and teachers.The data were collected at various epilepsy clinics and schools in Freetown, SL. A total of 50 patients were interviewed and questionnaires administered to their caregivers and teachers, making a total of 150 respondents. Fifty-one percent of the children were absent from school for >5days per month. Ninety percent did not participate in games and sports, with the commonest reason being fear of occurrence of seizures. Thirty-six percent claimed having experienced negative attitude from their classmates. Regarding the caregivers, 48% believed that epilepsy was a medical illness, while 34% considered it a demonic manifestation. Forty-eight percent were apprehensive about sending their children to school, with 83% of these caregivers stating fear of seizures and potential injuries. Only 8% of the caregivers did not prevent their children from taking part in any physical activity at school. Regarding the teachers, 16% believed that epilepsy was a demonic manifestation, and 10% thought that it was contagious. Fourteen percent did not think that children with epilepsy should go to school, and 80% would prevent children with epilepsy from participating in games and sports. When faced with a child having a seizure, 48% would hold the child down, 12% would place a hard object in the child's mouth, and 12% would avoid any physical contact. In total, 20% of the children ceased attending school permanently; daily occurrence of seizures (p<0.05), negative attitude of classmates (p<0.001), and having an illiterate caregiver (p<0.02) all showed a significant association with permanent cessation of schooling.The study demonstrates significant negative impacts of epilepsy on child education. Notably, the reasons for permanent exclusion from school appear to be as much related to attitudes as to the medical aspects of the disease itself. The data thus highlight the need for educational programs to address the widely prevalent misconceptions among both caregivers and teachers.

Biodiversity mapping in a tropical West African forest with airborne hyperspectral data.

Tropical forests are major repositories of biodiversity, but are fast disappearing as land is converted to agriculture. Decision-makers need to know which of the remaining forests to prioritize for conservation, but the only spatial information on forest biodiversity has, until recently, come from a sparse network of ground-based plots. Here we explore whether airborne hyperspectral imagery can be used to predict the alpha diversity of upper canopy trees in a West African forest. The abundance of tree species were collected from 64 plots (each 1250 m2 in size) within a Sierra Leonean national park, and Shannon-Wiener biodiversity indices were calculated. An airborne spectrometer measured reflectances of 186 bands in the visible and near-infrared spectral range at 1 m2 resolution. The standard deviations of these reflectance values and their first-order derivatives were calculated for each plot from the c. 1250 pixels of hyperspectral information within them. Shannon-Wiener indices were then predicted from these plot-based reflectance statistics using a machine-learning algorithm (Random Forest). The regression model fitted the data well (pseudo-R2 = 84.9%), and we show that standard deviations of green-band reflectances and infra-red region derivatives had the strongest explanatory powers. Our work shows that airborne hyperspectral sensing can be very effective at mapping canopy tree diversity, because its high spatial resolution allows within-plot heterogeneity in reflectance to be characterized, making it an effective tool for monitoring forest biodiversity over large geographic scales.

WHO OWNS THE DIAMONDS? THE OCCULT ECO-NOMY OF DIAMOND MINING IN SIERRA LEONE

ABSTRACTMuch of the literature on Sierra Leonean diamonds focuses on the role that this mineral resource played in the recent civil conflict (1991–2002). However, the political-economic perspective that is common to these analyses has lost sight of the main actors in this social reality. What do miners think of diamonds? Like their Malagasy colleagues engaged in the search for sapphires, the Sierra Leonean diamond miners often maintain that they do not know what diamonds could possibly be used for. What is specific to the diamond mining areas in this West African country is that suspicions and fantasies about the uses of diamonds go hand in hand with the idea that these precious stones belong to invisible spiritual entities known locally as djinns ordεbul dεn. Although this article aims to analyse the occult imaginary of diamond miners, it takes a different stand from the occult economies approach. By combining a historical-imaginative perspective with a historical and ecological one, this article intends to highlight the indissoluble interweaving of material and imaginative processes of artisanal diamond production in the context of Sierra Leone's mines.

Rebellious Histories: The Amistad Slave Revolt and the Cultures of Late Twentieth-Century Black Transnationalism by Matthew J. Christensen (review)

Christensen, Matthew J. 2012. Rebellious Histories: The Amistad Slave Revolt and Cultures of Late Twentieth-Century Black Transnationalism. Albany: SUNY Press. $65.00 hc. $23.95 sc. $23.95 e-book. 202 pp.Sengbe Pieh, often known in US as Joseph Cinque, was one of fifty-three captives who staged a successful revolt aboard slave ship Amistad in 1839. He was an outspoken advocate for rights of captives when they fought in US courts for their return to Africa. More than 150 years later, Pieh is probably most widely known in United States as heroic protagonist of 1997 Steven Spielberg film Amistad, but he is, more significantly, a beloved icon in Sierra Leonean public arts and theater. He is a symbol of Sierra Leonean national pride and a figure of agency and courage of captive Africans. In United States, he is an emblem of moral authority in exaggerated retellings of nineteenth-century America's emerging devotion to liberty and democracy. His image has been exploited by both Sierra Leonean and US governments to create an imagined heritage of revolutionary heroism in defense of freedom, a lineage from which both governments claim descent. At same time, for political activists, Pieh is an icon of Black transnationalism and centuries- long struggle against global capital's exploitation of people of African descent around world.Matthew Christensen investigates this powerfully elastic trope of revolutionary-who-would-not-be-enslaved in his new book Rebellious Histories: The Amistad Slave Revolt and. Cultures of Late Twentieth-Century Black Transnationalism. As Christensen illustrates, Sengbe Pieh and Amistad revolt are mobilized as symbols by people of African descent to critique contemporary patterns of racialized, global and emblematize complex dynamics of black transnational subject formation within global networks of capitalist production, past and present (10). Ironically, however, image of slave revolt is also appropriated as a rhetorical tool of neoliberal propagandists, who perniciously utilize language of freedom and equality to justify development and other political schemes (such as structural adjustment programs of 1990s) that force African nations into dependent status through debt, undermine opportunity for citizens of African nations, and exacerbate inequality for people of African descent.Christensen's recounting of life of Amistad narrative reveals that, by twentieth century, slave revolt was largely forgotten in Sierra Leone by everyone except a few academics. In 1987, narrative resurfaced through two complementary documents, one published by Sierra Leonean government at request of then presidentjoseph Saidu Momoh and other produced a few months later by United States Information Service for distribution through its Sierra Leone ambassador. Both documents celebrated heroes of Sierra Leone in attempts to bolster each office's hegemonic power over state and national imaginary (58).But these simplistic images of state power and heroism did not go uncontested. Through well-veiled double-speak that skillfully avoided government censorship, Charlie Haffner's play Amistad. Kata-Kata (1988) produced a counter- history to totalizing narrative produced by governments. As Christensen deftly argues, trope of cannibalism-the fear that reportedly motivated Sengbe Pieh and his compatriots to slave-ship rebellion-is evoked as a potent counter-metaphor that exposes the economics of exploitation that consumed enslaved African bodies and decimated African communities from which they were stolen (59). In months following 1992 coup against Momoh's regime and twenty-four-year single-party rule of All People's Congress, largely undereducated and underemployed young men launched a public art campaign in which they painted portrait of world-traveling political icon Sengbe Pieh (among others) on walls across city as a reminder of political empowerment of youth. …

The Krio of West Africa: Islam, culture, creolization, and colonialism in the nineteenth century

Krio of West Africa: Islam, Culture, Creolization, and Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century, is an engaging history of Sierra Leone that departs from previous scholarship. Taking issue with those who have tended to describe the Krio as essentially a Christian and Westernized 'ethnic group,' [Cole] suggests that the Krio identity, forged in nineteenth-century Freetown, transcended ethnicity, culture, and even religion. Indeed, his study focuses not on Christians, but on the hitherto understudied Muslim Krios, a group he portrays as 'marginalized within the marginalized' ...This informative book fills an important space on the shelves of Sierra Leonean history. -American Historical ReviewThe Krio are the descendants of freed slaves whose language and culture were partly shaped by their experiences in the West Indies, North America, England, and West Africa. This book looks at the lived experiences of ex-slaves and their progeny who settled Freetown, Sierra Leone; their dispersion in what became a far-flung Krio diaspora in West Africa; and how they sought to make a better life in their new home by engaging in commerce through the use of retrofitted slave ships along the West African Atlantic littoral. The book thus demonstrates the complex nature of the interactions between the new arrivals (the ex-slaves) and the older populations that began to produce a shared sense of identity beyond the oft-repeated narrative of abolition, admiralty, and the relocation of the trans-Atlantic ex-slave population in West Africa. By focusing on Islam in the making of Krio society in Sierra Leone, this book also helps recontextualize creolization in West Africa and elsewhere. The book offers a nuanced examination of West African history in the postabolition and colonial periods, including a critical look at the slave trade after 1807, the era of steamboat commerce, and the role of educated West African Krio across diverse transcolonial borders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its exploration of the Islamic presence in precolonial Sierra Leone is a departure from the hitherto restricted scholarly approach to the study of the encounter between Christianity and Islam in the region. Accessible enough to be used as a broad introduction to the history of a West African society for undergraduates, it is also innovative enough, theoretically and empirically, to be of value to scholars.

HIV knowledge, risk perception and avoidant behaviour change among Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea

A common assumption underpinning health communications design in humanitarian settings is that increasing knowledge and risk perception will lead to appropriate behaviour change. This study compares associations of HIV knowledge and perceived risk with reported HIV-avoidant behaviour changes and sexual health choices from a community survey of 698 sexually experienced male and female Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea. HIV knowledge was not significantly associated with reported HIV-avoidant changes (OR 1.25; adjusted for gender; 95%CI 0.76-2.04), while perceived HIV risk was negatively associated (OR 0.38, adjusted for age at sexual debut; 95%CI 0.22-0.66). Trying to conceive was the main reason reported for not using condoms or other contraception (28%; 138/498), followed by current pregnancy/lactation (19%; 93/498). Results suggest contextual factors (e.g. desire for children) can be as important as knowledge and risk-perception, and HIV prevention initiatives in stable and chronic humanitarian settings should account for these.

State-building through security sector reform: the UK intervention in Sierra Leone

UK support to the reconstruction of the Sierra Leonean state has been widely held up as an example of successful state-building with the development of basic capacity and trust in public institutions, particularly security. This article examines security sector reform (SSR) in Sierra Leone, how Sierra Leone affected SSR and what implications that has for international interventions. Despite being hailed as a success, the sustainability of a state-building effort driven by concepts of the liberal state, a polity form that never existed in Sierra Leone, is in question. Unrealistic expectations of progress driven by planning imperatives of development agencies remain a key issue and obstacle to sustainability.

Swings and roundabouts: the vagaries of democratic consolidation and ‘electoral rituals’ in Sierra Leone

The history of the electoral process in Sierra Leone is at the same time tortuous and substantial. From relatively open competitive multi-party politics in the 1960s, which led to the first turnover of power at the ballot box, through the de facto and de jure one-party era, which nonetheless had elements of electoral competition, and finally to contemporary post-conflict times, which has seen three elections and a second electoral turnover in 2007, one can discern evolving patterns. Evidence from the latest local and national elections in 2012 suggests that there is some democratic consolidation, at least in an electoral sense. However, one might also see simultaneous steps forward and backward – What you gain on the swings, you may lose on the roundabouts. This is particularly so in terms of institutional capacities, fraud and violence, and one would need to enquire of the precise ingredients – in terms of political culture or in other words the attitudes and motivations of electors and the elected – of this evolving Sierra Leonean, rather than specifically liberal type, of democracy. Equally, the development of ‘electoral rituals’, whether peculiar to Sierra Leone or not and whether deemed consolidatory or not, has something to say as part of an investigation into the electoral element of democratic consolidation.1 The literature on elections in Africa most often depicts a number of broad features, such as patronage, ethno-regionalism, fraud and violence, and it is the intention of this article to locate contemporary Sierra Leone, as precisely as possible, within the various strands of this discourse.

Projected treatment capacity needs in sierra leone.

Background: The ongoing outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa requires immediate and sustained input from the international community in order to curb transmission. The CDC has produced a model that indicates that to end the outbreak by pushing the reproductive number below one, 25% of the patients must be placed in an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETC) and 45% must be isolated in community settings in which risk of disease transmission is reduced and safe burials are provided. In order to provide firmer targets for the international response in Sierra Leone, we estimated the national and international personnel and treatment capacity that may be required to reach these percentages. Methods: We developed a compartmental SEIR model that was fitted to WHO data and local data allowing the reproductive number to change every 8 weeks to forecast the progression of the EVD epidemic in Sierra Leone. We used the previously estimated 2.5x correction factor estimated by the CDC to correct for underreporting. Number of personnel required to provide treatment for the predicted number of cases was estimated using UNMEER and UN OCHA requests for resources required to meet the CDC target of 70% isolation. Results: As of today (2014-12-04), we estimate that there are 810 (95% CI=646 to 973) EVD active cases in treatment, with an additional 3751 (95% CI=2778 to 4723) EVD cases unreported and untreated. To reach the CDC targets today, we need 1140 (95% CI=894 to 1387) cases in ETCs and 2052 (95% CI=1608 to 2496) at home or in a community setting with a reduced risk for disease transmission. In 28 days (2015-01-01), we will need 1309 (95% CI=804 to 1814) EVD cases in ETCs and 2356 (95% CI=1447 to 3266) EVD cases at reduced risk of transmission. If the current transmission rate is not reduced, up to 3183 personnel in total will be required in 56 days (2015-01-29) to operate ETCs according to our model. Conclusions: The current outbreak will require massive input from the international community in order to curb the transmission through traditional containment mechanisms by breaking the chains of transmission in Sierra Leone. If sufficient treatment facilities, healthcare workers and support personnel are not rapidly deployed, the increasing number of cases will be overwhelming.In addition to supporting isolation and treatment mechanisms, other viable control options, such as the development of an effective vaccine, should be supported.

Atrocities, Diamonds and Diplomacy: The inside story of the conflict in Sierra Leone

In 1997, Peter Penfold came to Sierra Leone as the British High Commissioner. This very readable autobiographical account relates his eventful three-year tour in the small West African country, which coincided with some of the most violent phases of the decade-long civil war (1991–2001), a conflict in which the UK became closely involved. A vivid and often emotional description of the struggle to rein in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and renegade parts of the Sierra Leone Army, the book is also his personal commentary on the Sandline Affair and Arms to Africa Scandal, which dominated the UK media and public attention at the time, and ultimately led to Penfold's early retirement from the diplomatic service. As one of the few published eyewitness accounts – especially of the turbulent months surrounding the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) coup in 1997 and the RUF invasion in 1999 – the importance of this book derives from a unique mix of detailed accounts of high-level diplomatic meetings and observations of street scenes. The multitude of these close-up descriptive moments and poignant anecdotes, largely told from a distinct field level and ‘Sierra Leonean’ perspective, bring to life the complexity and tumult but also surprising engagement and self-organization of the Freetown population, which for most outsiders looked like utter chaos.

Evaluating the effect of price and non-price policy intervention on rice cultivation in Sierra Leone: A supply response model approach

Rice is the main food for over 95 percent of the Sierra Leonean populace. It accounts for the largest portion of the agricultural GDP of the country. On the contrary, its cultivation has been shrinking over the past decades. Consequently, importation now becomes the main source of supplying the grain for local needs since its cultivation or production could no longer meet domestic request. The deterioration in the local cultivation of rice has had severe socio-economic implications such as higher consumer prices and balance of payment burden. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of price and other related nonprice policy intervention on rice cultivation in the country. The tools utilized for analyzing the problem comprise, a coefficient of protection analysis as well as a supply response analysis by means of a time series regression (for the period 1980-2011). Major limitations established negatively affecting rice output are price disincentives to cultivators, public expenditure and fertilizer consumption. From the above findings, rice cultivators should be accorded the necessary incentives to keep them more effective in the rice cultivation career. The food policy approach that had over the years depended on huge importation of rice should be reviewed in favor of domestic cultivation. Increasing local cultivation through a meaningful protection of cultivators can independently reduce the price of rice to the advantage of the final consumers. This study also recommends that public funds should be redirected away from rice import toward investments in its domestic cultivation.