Studies on the effectiveness of transmission mechanisms of monetary policy are crucial for an economy. It is essential to understand how effective are the channels of monetary transmission in directing economic activities in Sierra Leone. In this case, particular focus is on the interest rate, exchange rate, and credit channels. The analytical methods used are unit root tests, cointegration test, Granger causality test, impulse responses and variance decomposition. Central to this investigation is the use of the Vector Autoregression (VAR) approach to estimate time series annual data from 1980 to 2012. The cointegration test result revealed that cointegration exists. The Granger causality test showed that gross capital formation Granger causes exchange rate and real interest rate. The impulse response function showed that output responded positively to monetary shocks, as interest rate increased. For exchange rate and private domestic credit, output showed that even in the long run, the effects of the shocks might not be transitory in order to converge towards a steady state. The variance decomposition indicated that fluctuations in gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) were attributed to itself. While the total contribution of the real interest rate (RIR) and exchange rate (ER) was relatively insignificant. The error forecast of RIR was attributed by itself with an insignificant contribution of GDPPC and none by ER and private domestic credit (PDC). Fluctuations in forecasting ER were greatly attributed to itself and trivial contributions by the other variables. As the trend fell, there was a slight increase in the contribution of the other variables. The results provided evidence of ineffective channels in the Sierra Leone economy.

This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author JMN designed the study, collected the data and performed the statistical analysis. Author AB contextualized the analysis and provided meaning to it in the context of current developments in agricultural livelihood analysis. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

This study is premised on investigating the effectiveness of inflation targeting in South Africa. The methods of analysis include the Vector Autoregressive model (VAR), the unit root test and cointegration test. The analysis was conducted with the use of EViews version 9. The findings from the study revealed that the response of inflation is not consistent with the Taylor rule hence increases in the repo rate meant to reduce inflation actually increase the inflationary pressures in the economy. This is due to the composition of the Consumer Price Index. Housing constitutes the largest weight on the CPI hence this has an impact on how the Repo rate affects inflation. The autoregression model of inflation showed that the sum of the coefficients is less than one (0.965) showing that inflation targeting has effectively reduced the persistence of inflation in South Africa. Thus monetary framework in South Africa seems to be effective and should thus be advanced for wider economic benefit.

This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author JMN designed the study, performed the literature search and together with author MS did the statistical analysis, author MS searched and did data cleaning and uploading in e-views. Author RO gave a conceptual framework and nested the study on it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Annually, rural farmers in the Caprivi region are faced with making difficult choices of whether or not to cultivate their crop fields. The choice farmers make is influenced by the presence of wild animals, climate risk factors, and prospects of future food aid-rollouts. This study investigates key identified determinants to rural farmers' decisions to cultivate their crop fields amidst the three mentioned influencers. Using a structured questionnaire, 253 respondents were interviewed on a face to face basis. Random sampling was used in selecting the respondents. The respondents resided in the flood plains where they had access to food aid for a period of 5 years. The central livelihood strategy for the respondents is agriculture. A logistics model was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the household food bill, age of the head of the household, and the value and availability of food aid were essential determinants of a rural farmer's decision to cultivate his/her crop field. It also came out that rolling out food aid to rural farmers for a period of ≤ 5 years has little effect on their crop production commitments. A longer period may become a disincentive to crop farming in favor of food aid.