(Nairobi) Authorities in the Ethiopian region of Tigray warned on Friday of an imminent famine, due to drought and the lingering effects of the war that pitted the federal government against this northern region of the country for two years.
More than 91% of the population of Tigray is “exposed to the risk of famine and death”, declared on X Getachew Reda, the president of the interim administration of the region, calling for help from the Ethiopian government and the International community.
Mr. Getachew went so far as to compare the situation to the famine of the 1980s in Ethiopia, which left around a million people dead.
His administration has declared an emergency in areas under its control, but has limited resources to manage the crisis, he explained.
“The Ethiopian government and international community have done their part to silence the guns. They must now do their part to confront the impending humanitarian catastrophe,” said Getachew.
“Since the signing of the Pretoria agreement, thousands of Tigrayans have already died from lack of food,” he assured, referring to the peace agreement of November 2022 which ended the war between the Tigrayan rebels and Addis Ababa.
The situation on the ground in northern Ethiopia cannot be independently verified, as media access to Tigray is restricted by the federal government.
For Mr. Getachew, the risk of imminent famine is due to the effects of the war (massive displacements, destruction of health establishments), drought followed by destructive rains, as well as the temporary suspension this year of aid from United States and the UN World Food Program (WFP).
USAID and WFP cut off all food aid to Ethiopia in June, citing embezzlement, and their deliveries are only slowly resuming.
“Although aid has been restored on a limited basis, what is reaching the needy is only a fraction of what would be needed to meet current needs,” Getachew said.
In a press release on December 22, the UN agency responsible for humanitarian coordination (Ocha) had already warned of the risk, until May 2024, of a deterioration of the food situation in Tigray.