Tigray famine, statistics and assessments

A new World Food Program (WHO) estimate shows that 4.6 million people in Tigray - or 83% of the total population - are food insecure, with two million described as "extremely critical".

Humanitarian groups, meanwhile, are forced to reduce their activities due to fuel and supply shortages, and aid must be sent on foot.

The World Food Program (WFP) also notes that diets are becoming increasingly poor because food items are not available and families rely almost exclusively on grains, while limiting the size and number of meals they eat each day. In fact, three-quarters of the population uses extreme coping strategies to survive.

According to the same estimate, 2.4 percent of children were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and "very alarming levels." The World Food Program (WFP) has also sounded the alarm over rising famines in the Amhara and Afar neighborhoods, which have been hit hard by the war in recent months.

Tigray has been exposed to what the UN says is a practical siege for months. Washington accuses the government of blocking aid, while Addis Ababa blames insurgent attacks.

The clashes in Tigray began in November 2020 after Prime Minister Abyi Ahmed sent troops to overthrow the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's former ruling party, and said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on army camps. 

In November 2021, insurgents claimed to be about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa, which prompted them to evacuate as countries, including the United States and France, urged their citizens to leave.

 

_{Source and Credit: WHO, WFP, FRANCE24}