Hunger kills at least 176 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – At least 176 people, including 75 women, have died from draught-induced hunger in Ethiopia's northern state of Tigray, local media reported on Wednesday, citing a senior official.

Regional Administrator Hadush Asemelash told Tigray TV that the deaths, which included 101 men and 75 women, were caused by the ongoing humanitarian crisis after the prolonged drought in Tigray.

This is the second major announcement by the local administration as a state of emergency was declared last week after more than 200 deaths caused by drought-related hunger in the area in recent weeks.

Twenty-four people in the district of Tsaeda Emba are the latest victims of hunger, having died in two different vicinities in the district as the country has had five failed rainy seasons since 2019.

In March, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Food Programme (WFP) suspended food aid to Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region, citing the diversion of shipments to illicit sales in local markets rather than reaching people in need.

USAID on Nov. 13 said it would resume food aid distribution in Ethiopia in December after a six-month halt.

However, regional interim President Getachew Reda said late Tuesday that the USAID's decision to resume aid is on a very limited scale, covering only 20% of the beneficiaries.

“90 % of the population was depending on humanitarian aid, but the suspension has made it worse,” he said during talks with Swedish Ambassador to Ethiopia Hans Henric Lundquist.

Meanwhile, the Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) issued a statement late Tuesday urging the international community to urgently address the burgeoning famine in Ethiopia's Tigray region and deploy mechanisms to avert a devastating catastrophe that is claiming lives in the war-torn region.