Sierra Leone has continued to report high rates of rural poverty incidence in Africa despite the series of global development efforts. The country was ravaged by a drawn-out civil war in the 1990s, and is currently among the three West African countries-including Guinea and Liberia-that have been worst hit by the Ebola virus disease. While the bearing of this epidemic is largely an outcome of endemic poverty, the narrative of this book had been concluded before the virus could get a foothold in Sierra Leone. Emanating from an award winning doctoral research in Japan, the book has been written in the context of the country's civil war. It presents a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of rural household poverty and policy options focusing on Sierra Leone. The inertia experienced in rural poverty reduction in the country defines the prime questions investigated in this book. These include issues as to whether there has been adequate understanding of the conditions in which the average rural household has lived, and the complex contexts in which they make welfare decisions; and whether national development policies have generally been effective in reducing poverty.