Tigray crisis: A new ‘famine’ in Ethiopia

The conflict that began between Ethiopia’s federal government and the ruling party in the Tigray region has since blown up into a full scale crisis in the Horn of Africa. Now, hundreds of thousands in Tigray are facing famine, and millions more are at risk.

Context

The conflict that began between Ethiopia’s federal government and the ruling party in the Tigray region has since blown up into a full scale crisis in the Horn of Africa. Now, hundreds of thousands in Tigray are facing famine, and millions more are at risk.

Where is Tigray?

• Tigray is Ethiopia's northernmost region.
• Bordering Eritrea, it is home to most of the country's estimated7 million ethnic Tigrayans.
• The ethnic group, which accounts for about 6% of Ethiopia's population, have had an outsized influence in national affairs.
  

Tigray crisis

• The Tigray War is an ongoing armed conflict that began in November 2020 in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.
• The war has spawned massacres, gang rapes and the widespread expulsion of people from their homes, and the United States has declared “ethnic cleansing” in western Tigray.
• Now, on top of those atrocities, Tigrayans face another urgent problem: hunger and starvation.

Famine conditions

• According to the IPC analysis, famine conditions in Tigray are in phase 5.
• Approximately 350,000 people out of Tigray’s 6 million population are experiencing famine.
• This was the result of several factors rooted in the ongoing military conflict.
• Eritrean forces that joined the conflict in support of Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed have been accused of destroying property, burning crops, destroying health facilities, and preventing farmers from ploughing their land.