Sao Tome and Principe spent 122.6 billion dobras (US$5.3 million) on rice in 2016, the most imported food product, the Sao Tome National Statistics Institute (INE) told Macauhub on Monday.

Data provided by INE showed that rice imports accounted for 29.4% of imports of food products in 2016, with 8,314 tonnes and a cost of US$5.3 million, compared to US$6.2 million in 2015.

Following rice in the list of food imports was flour with 7,886 tonnes and a cost of US$3.2 million and milk costing US$2.9 million.

Japan is the largest supplier of rice for donation to Sao Tome and Principe, under a food aid deal estimated at just over US$2 million annually as part of bilateral cooperation.

Through a fund in Sao Tome, the money from the sale of Japanese rice has been applied to social projects, including the construction of rural roads, schools, health centres and water supply in order to improve the living conditions of the population. (macauhub)