in foe;{] prcducticn in 1981 \las entirely attributable to non- cereal food production (livestock products, pulses and roots and tubers) a1thcuqh a decrease \>Jas recorded for veqetahle ci1. The qrc,..;th rate in cereals remained steady in both 1980 and 1981. Hithin the cereal qrcup, the decrease in the qro..,lth rates for millet and rice vas r.~ore tl1an offset by the increase in maize production. In Burundi, requ1ar rainfall throuqhout the year helped tc boost f ocxl production frcm 8, 387,600 toP.nes i r: 1980 to ll,G07,800 tonr.es ir, 1981, em.h1ir1q the country to reduce its im­ purts of fcoc! crops ry about 5.2 per cent. Over the same pericd, fccx:l productior. ir; H'V.anda rose from 4,431,100 tor.r:es to 5,359,500 tonnes. Ir1 additicn, the cultivated area for food crops in-, creased from 919,100 hectares to 1,020,300 hectares, while productivity per hectare imprc;.ved from 4.2 to 5.3 tonr;es per hec­ tare. 3. Focd impcrts 25. Between 1970 ar.d 1980 (tlle latest year fc·r which data are av<.li1al·le), the value oi major cereal impc,rt::; tc· developiiq Jl.frica ir'creased at a ccmpcur:d averaqe annual rate of 25.1 per ceLt, vJhile the volume of imports increased hy 12.2 per cer·t an­ l!ually (see t<.tbles IV.J\.4 aloe! IV.A.G). A siqPificar.t share cf the rise in value stemme{! from increased prices. 35 E/ECA/CM 9/5 Table IV.A..4 Value of cereal imports to developino Africa (Millions of US dollars) 1970 Central l~frica a./ 59.3 Eastern Africa ~I lll. 3 North Africa 2ll. 7 1 West Africa 149.8 Developi r;q Africa 532.1 2 1975 157.7 378.6 731.1 2 387.7 1 073.1 4 Averaqe annual qro..~th rates 1970-1980 1980 (Percentaqe) 314.3 14.7 828.1 22.2 617.4 28.6 228.9 23.4 988.7 25.1 -----------------------------------------------------------------Source: FAO secretariat. ~/ Excludinq Equatorial Guinea. b/ Excludi nq Dj ibcuti, Lesotho and Seychelles. 26. \ihent retained its domirar;t position, althouqh its share in 