The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which depends on the UN, warns about the dramatic situation in Ethiopia, where more than 20 million people require food assistance, and only a third of them receive it. The Tigray region, the northernmost of Ethiopia, emerges as the epicenter of the humanitarian crisis, marked by a relentless drought and the ravages of the 2020 war. Andrew Mitchell, British minister for Africa, warns in an interview with the BBC "serious indicators of the danger of famine." However, the Government of Addis Ababa seems to minimize the seriousness of the situation by denying food insecurity and emphasizing the consequences of climate change, defying the signals of emergency and concern raised by the international community.
According to UNHCR, the term “famine” has a precise technical definition; 20% of households with food shortages, 30% of children under five years of age with acute malnutrition and a mortality rate that exceeds the figure of 2 people per 10,000 inhabitants per day. But the data presented by Tigray do not suggest that these criteria have been met.
"Whether we call it famine, risk of famine or potential famine, to me it is purely academic... What happened in 1985, for example, would pale in comparison, if we do not address the kind of developing famine that is staring us in the face" Getachew Reda, the president of the Tigray region, said in an interview with the BBC on Monday.
What Getachew Reda is referring to is the devastating crisis of the mid-1980s, when hundreds of thousands of people died in a famine in Tigray and other areas of Ethiopia. Almost forty years later, 16 million people across the country face food shortages, with almost half of them suffering from food emergency levels. This means that many are not only hungry, but starving.
Since the end of 2022, the region has been under a ceasefire, after two years of war, in which the Tigray Liberation Front faced Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces.
But the impact of the conflict still persists, where since July last year more than 200 people have died of hunger in the city of Edaga Arbi, Tigray region, according to local authorities. The region bordering Eritrea and the south of the country are the most affected by the devastating legacy of conflict and drought, twin evils that in recent years have destroyed crops and crops, and forced millions of people to abandon their homes. .
But, according to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) predicts that by mid-2024, the food crisis will be a near-national emergency.
The head of the UN in Ethiopia, Ramiz Alakbarov, alleged that this is a forgotten crisis; a claim supported by figures collected by the United Nations, which estimate that 20 million people are in immediate need of food assistance in Ethiopia. In line with these figures, Andrew Mitchell said in the BBC interview that “there is clearly a risk of famine if we do not take action now.”
Affected people line up with QR codes that identify them, their homes and their needs. Although the food they receive is minimal, because budgets are running out. At the Ayder hospital in Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region, the corridors are full of bustle, the doctors cannot cope. Images that contrast with the pediatric wing, where silence reigns full of stunned children, who have doubled the admission of children seriously ill due to malnutrition since 2020.
Andrew Mitchell pledged that Britain would spend a further $125 million to help up to three million mothers and babies in Ethiopia access healthcare. A new fund to supply medicines and vaccines aimed at ending preventable deaths.
This narrative, which advocates a humanitarian disaster and an imminent risk of famine in Ethiopia, contrasts with the vision issued by the federal government of Addis Ababa, which denies that there is a food crisis.
Shiferaw Teklemariam, Ethiopia's Commissioner for Disaster Risk Management, told the BBC that "there is drought, not famine," referring to Ethiopia being a victim of climate change. Furthermore, he warned regional governments not to politicize the issue, since “the Government is responding very seriously, but at the same time we ask all interested parties to do their part.”
Political interests lie here.
Sometimes, past famines in the country have been related to the fall of governments, which is why according to various analysts, the word "famine" makes the current administration, headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, nervous.
The truth is that no one really knows how serious this crisis is, because it is difficult to obtain concrete data. But what most parties agree on is that the international community should do more.
