The influence of price on rice production in Sierra Leone

Abstract

Rice is the main staple food of the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans, eaten on a daily basis by almost every household in the country. Rice is the most important food crop widely grown by farmers across the country. Although much attention is now focused on rice production through the small holder commercialization programme (SHCP), less attention has been given to investigating the constraints faced by rice producers in the country. Also, as food insecurity continues to be a major development problem across the country, thereby undermining people's health, productivity, and often their very survival; this study contributes to efforts to overcome the development challenges posed by food insecurity necessarily begin with accurate assessment of influential factors that con-strained the production of the staple food, rice. The main objective of this study is therefore to analysis the factors that influence rice production in the country, and specifically examine the relationship between rice production and the price of rice as sold in the domestic market. The study used a log linear model with the quantity of rice produced as the dependent variable and the price of domestic rice, quantity of rice imported and price of imported rice as explanatory. Findings indicated that, domestic rice is more expensive than imported rice per ton, and this underscores the argument that, rice importation is undermining domestic rice production as a viable income generating activity. Also, almost all the people in the capital city which hosts about 70% of the total population of country prefer eating imported rice, since it is free from stones and other impurities. However, In order to control price and still increase rice production, the government should be able to purchase the rice from the farmers and then sell this rice to private retailers.

Do Land Ownership and Agro-Ecological Location of Farmland Influence Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties? Evidence from Sierra Leone

“…2 We compare to land owned by the farmer (LAND_OWNED). 3 Upland is the reference point (UPLAND). 4 Agricultural extension services is the reference point (EX_SERV).…”

“…The adoption of improved technologies notably improved rice varieties to boost food production, and rice self-sufficiency is increasingly becoming a crucial element in the formulation of food security strategic policies of many Sub Saharan African countries [1,2]. This is seen in the importance rice holds as an economical food [3,4], essential staple, and significant source of food energy for a population of more than 750 million in Sub Saharan Africa [5][6][7], and Sierra Leone is not an exception [8]. However, it is critical to produce enough rice required to feed the rapidly growing population.…”

“…Also, new varieties, such as ROKU-PR (ROK is a derivation from Rok-upr, the location of the Roku-pr Rice Research Centre in Sierra Leone. (See Dahniya (1993) Linking science and the farmer: pillars of the national agricultural research system in Sierra Leone)), introduced among farmers within the last two decades and improved rice varieties, such as New Rice for Africa (NERICA), are not uncommon [3,23,24]. ROK is an improved rice variety developed by the main rice research centre in Sierra Leone (Rice Research Station, Rokupr) during the 1970s and 1990s.…”

Identification of rice genotypes tolerant to submergence at seedling stage in Uganda

“…This represents 29% of the total grain crop output worldwide (Xu and Shen, 2003). Rice is a dominant staple food crop in developing countries, particularly in the humid tropics with almost 90% of rice being produced and consumed in Asia and in developing countries in the tropics and subtropics (Conteh et al, 2012;Hossain, 2004;Yoshida, 1981). In 2000, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) classified rice as the most important food crop depended on by over 50% of the world population.…”

The Economic Importance and Social Values of Traditional Aquaculture in Rural Sierra Leone

“…Farmers whose motives were predominantly for income generation therefore regarded cash crops production as their primary livelihoods, whereas those whose primary motive for farming was for food security regarded rice farming as their primary livelihood [9]; Table 1 Tailor 0 1 0 19 0 0 0 33 33 0 0 0 0 33 33 Average 200 200 197 182 138 182 47 50 58 30 24 41 187 124 182 The average official exchange rates (Leone/$) was Leone2,701.30 = $1; popularity rating: 1 = most popular. …”