A main driver of global food crises this year is, of course, conflict and insecurity. Despite COVID-19-related movement restrictions, 2.2 million Ethiopians have fled their homes in response to the conflict in Tigray, according to local officials. Without accounting for the impact of the armed conflict (the impact will be calculated once the conflict is over), 8.6 million people live under the food crisis threshold, and 1.4 million of those live in a state of food emergency.
Ethiopia was already facing a fierce food crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The armed conflict in Tigray and pandemic have only made the challenges around food security in the Horn of Africa significantly more demanding and intricate.Īccording to the United Nations World Food Programme’s 2021 Global Report on Food Crises, Ethiopia is fighting the seventh worst food crisis of 2020.
Almost six month ago, amid growing concerns of the impact of COVID-19, an armed conflict erupted between Ethiopian federal government troops and Tigray-led forces.
