S Korea agrees Tanzania land deal

Seoul, 24 Sept-(ANA)-South Korea says it has agreed to develop farmland in Tanzania - the latest in a series of such deals between rich and poor nations.

Korean officials say 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) will be developed - half for local farmers, half to produce processed goods for South Korea.

Seoul also signed a deal last year to lease a vast area of Madagascar.

Rich countries have increasingly sought farmland in poorer nations to help shore up food supplies.

Countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Kuwait are short of arable land and have been seeking agricultural investments in Africa.

But South Korea's deal in Madagascar - which would have seen it lease an area the size of Belgium from the island nation - has been thrown into uncertainty.

Madagascar's government was overthrown in a coup earlier this year and the new leaders said they would scrap the deal, which was cited as one reason for the unrest. (ANA)

FA/ANA/24 September 2009---