Ethiopia's Tigray region grapples with devastating famine amidst conflict fallout

The looming famine, a devastating fallout from a two-year conflict exacerbated by a severe drought, poses a severe threat to the lives of millions.

Getachew urgently appealed to both the Ethiopian government and the international community to intervene and provide immediate assistance. The current crisis in Tigray draws alarming parallels to the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s, which resulted in approximately one million deaths. Despite the November 2022 Pretoria agreement, a peace pact ending the war between Tigrayan rebels and Ethiopian government forces, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray remains unabated.

Getachew emphasized the cumulative impact of the conflict, including a crippling economic crisis, mass displacement, the destruction of health facilities, and natural calamities such as insufficient seasonal rains, destructive rainfall, and locust invasions. Despite declaring a disaster emergency in the region, Tigray's interim administration faces severe limitations in managing the unfolding disaster due to scarce resources.

Earlier in the year, a temporary cessation of aid by the United States and the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) compounded the crisis. While aid has since resumed on a limited scale, it falls far short of meeting the needs of the population. The UN's humanitarian response agency OCHA has issued a warning that the drought situation is deteriorating in parts of Ethiopia. Without an urgent scaling up of aid, conditions are expected to worsen.

The food security situation in Tigray is predicted to deteriorate between October 2023 and May 2024, particularly affecting displaced populations who will face severe food insecurity. The crisis is further aggravated by the death of over 85,000 livestock due to drought and significant challenges facing at-risk populations, including pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. As the fight for survival intensifies, the world watches with bated breath, hoping for an end to this human tragedy. (ILKHA)