(f) Rehabilitation of rural commercial network 22.0 (21 Support for health network (medicines) 4.0 (3) water supply and construction 5.3 (4) Rehabilitation of rural roads 1.9 (5) Irrigation schemes 50.8 XII. SAO TOI.IE AND PRIT.ICIPE A. Background 214. A review mission visited sao Tome and Principe in June 1984 in response to General Assembly resolution 37/L46 of 17 December 1982. The report of this missionis contained in the report of the secretary-General (A/39/394, annex). 2I5. The archipelago of Sao Tome (860 sq km) and Principe (I40 sq km) is located inthe Gulf.of Guinea, 325 km west of Gabon, its nearest neighbour on the Africancontinent. The isolation of the country is heightened by the lack of regular air and shipping services as well as by the absence of adequate telecommunicationservices with the outside worId. Based on data from the I98l census, thepopulation in 1984 was estimated to be I04,400, with an annual growth rate bet',reen2.8 and 3.0 per cent. Sao Tome and Principe has been classified by the United Nations as a Ieast developed country. 216. The economic problems of the country stem to a large extent from the structureinherited at independence. In the pre-independence period, the agriculture sector was organized into large, privately owned plantations devoted mainly to exportcrops, in particular cocoa, which in recent years still accounted for about 80 t.o 90 per cent of the total value of exports. The country imports most of its staplefood reguirements and is thus dependent on earnings from cocoa exports to pay for imports of food as werl as the necessary agricul.tural inputs.A/40/44r Engli sh Page 75 2l?. A major effort of the @vernment has been to reduce the dependence on cocoa. In recent years, the issue has become even more pressing as the volume of cocoa
**Analysis**
The text appears to focus on the economic development of Sao Tome and Principe, specifically its challenges and efforts to diversify its economy. It mentions the country's dependence on cocoa exports, its imports of staple food and agricultural inputs, and the government's efforts to reduce this dependence. The text also touches on the country's infrastructure, including its rural commercial network, water supply, and roads. Additionally, it mentions the country's population growth rate and its classification as a least developed country.

**Category**
Economic development, Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Transport and communication