The country does not produce a significant quantity of cereals. The staple foods are sweet potatoes, cassava and plantains. With a population of about 576 000, the total cereal requirement for 2013, overwhelmingly supplied through commercial imports, is estimated at about 28 000 tonnes, including 8 000 tonnes of rice and 20 000 tonnes of wheat.

According to the IMF, the average inflation rate declined from 6.3 percent in 2011 to 5.4 percent in 2012, in spite of increasing global commodity prices.

The country does not produce a significant quantity of cereals. The staple foods are sweet potatoes, cassava and plantains. The cereal import requirement for 2012 is forecast at about 28 000 tonnes, including 8 000 tonnes of rice and 20 000 tonnes of wheat.

Authors: Nicola Jones and Rebecca Holmes

Social protection is increasingly seen as an important component of poverty reduction strategies and efforts to reduce vulnerability to economic, social, natural and other shocks and stresses. It can play an important role in strengthening access to and demand for quality basic services and social welfare services by the poorest through childhood and beyond. Social protection can also facilitate a better balance between care-giving and productive work responsibilities which

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EVENING
HR/CN/99/56
23 April 1999
Also Approves Chairman's Statements on East Timor and Cyprus; Resolutions on Debt Relief, "Unilateral Coercive Measures", Human Rights Cooperation The Commission on Human Rights wrapped up a daylong session of debate on resolutions the way it started -- with a lengthy deliberation about the situation in Kosovo.