diff --git a/rakefile b/rakefile
index 2db1607237e21a2ed4ae6436b313faf68f6b9331..b6fbb18ac6fea5b5a606710d40049d3a31ef5fc2 100644
--- a/rakefile
+++ b/rakefile
@@ -159,3 +159,15 @@ end
 task :publish => :package do
     sh("scp #{BUILD_DIR}/#{NORMALIZED_DEPLOY_NAME}_#{PKG_VERSION}*.deb #{PACKAGE_REPO}")
 end
+
+namespace :cms do
+  desc "Import course data within the given DATA_DIR variable"
+  task :import do
+    if ENV['DATA_DIR']
+      sh(django_admin(:cms, :dev, :import, ENV['DATA_DIR']))
+    else
+      raise "Please specify a DATA_DIR variable that point to your data directory.\n" +
+        "Example: \`rake cms:import DATA_DIR=../data\`"
+    end
+  end
+end