Public Procurement Systems and Regulatory Framework in Sierra Leone’s Agricultural Sector: An Institutional Assessment of MAFFS

Abstract

Public procurement constitutes a central pillar of public financial management and governance in developing and post-conflict economies, where government spending plays a dominant role in economic coordination, service delivery, and development programming. In such contexts, procurement systems frequently account for a significant share of national expenditure and are particularly susceptible to inefficiency, corruption, political interference, and administrative weaknesses. In Sierra Leone, the enactment of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2004—subsequently amended in 2016—represented a decisive departure from a highly centralised, opaque, and discretion-driven procurement regime toward a decentralised, rules-based, and regulatory framework intended to strengthen transparency, accountability, competition, and value for money. Using a mixed-methods research design that integrates quantitative survey data (n = 102), qualitative key informant interviews, and documentary analysis, the study evaluates the effectiveness, institutional capacity, and operationalization of procurement reforms at the ministerial level. The study concludes that while Sierra Leone’s procurement reforms are robust in design and broadly aligned with international best practices, their effectiveness is constrained by institutional and operational weaknesses. Strengthening human capacity, enforcement mechanisms, monitoring systems and digital procurement infrastructure is critical for achieving sustainable procurement reform outcomes. The study contributes to the literature by providing sector-specific empirical evidence from a post-conflict African context and offers policy-relevant insights for strengthening procurement governance in resource-constrained public sectors.