NIGERIA, Africa’s most populous nation, is to import 500,000 metric tonnes of rice as part of the fight against food shortages, a senior government official said Monday.

Olusegun Agagu, governor of southwest Ogun State, made the announcement in a televised interview though he did not say from which countries the rice would be imported.

Usually, Nigeria, which was self-sufficient in rice in the 1960s, imports rice from Asia, particularly Thailand.

Last month, Nigeria and South Korea signed an agreement to set up a rice processing mill in a bid to boost production and fight spiralling food prices.

Under the agreement, the Korean government will provide 1.8-million-dollars (1.1- million-euro) in funding for the mill to be set up at Bida in central Niger State. Rice is the staple cereal in this oil-rich country of 140 million, but its price has more than doubled in past months.

A 50 kilogram (110- pound) bag of rice which cost 6,000 naira (51 dollars) in December is now sold for 13,000 naira. Nigeria has pledged to double annual rice production to 5.6 million tonnes over the next four years.