OUAGADOUGOU - Japan has donated 390 million yen (about three million dollars) to Burkina Faso to help the sub-Saharan country buy rice to offset food shortages, it was announced here Monday. The donation was the biggest by Japan to Burkina Faso in 13 years. The money will be used to buy rice from Japan, the United States, Australia and Thailand. In the 1997-1998 planting season, Burkina Faso produced 2.01 million tons of food - a shortfall of 19 percent over the previous year.

(AFP)