"ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia expects to open a tender to buy additional wheat after purchasing one million tonnes to tackle extreme food shortages due to drought, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Failed rains during the spring and summer have sparked food and water shortages in the Horn of Africa nation, which boasts one of the continent's highest growth rates but depends heavily on rain-fed farming.

The United Nations says 8 million people in the country of 96 million will need food aid but the number could rise to 15 million by early 2016, owing to shortages exacerbated by the effects of the El Nino weather pattern."

Aaron Maasho reports for Reuters November 18, 2015. [2]