Editorial: After hundreds die of starvation in Ethiopia, millions more are in grave danger. Stop denial and declare a national emergency before too late!

Addis Abeba – Death by starvation has become a stark reality for hundreds of people in different parts of Ethiopia, especially in the Amhara and Tigray regions, where food production is severed by consecutive years of drought and wars.

Over the last four years, Ethiopia has been under the terrible spell of drought caused by below-average rainfall primarily due to negative Indian Ocean Dipole and La Niña conditions. The warning signs were there too.

In Tigray, regional officials recently admitted that in the month of December alone more than 400 people, including 25 children, have succumbed to starvation in four districts. Almost half of this death by starvation occurred in two districts: Abergelle Yechila in the central zone and Atsbi in the eastern zone, where extreme rain failure devastated a population that had already been reeling from the combined effects of the brutal war and siege.

A severe drought impacted at least 132,000 hectares of farmland in the south, southeast, and eastern Tigray zones, endangering a crucial harvest for the coming year. Currently, over two million people in 32 districts across five zones of the region are facing acute shortage of food, prompting regional authorities to establish an ‘Emergency Response Committee’ to respond to the looming humanitarian crisis.

Similarly, in the Amhara region, Wag Himra and North Gonder zones in particular, the severe drought, coupled with the ongoing conflict, is having a calamitous effect on the local population. In November, more than 20 people were reported to have died from starvation in the two zones alone, and more than 85, 000 livestock had already perished. Further compounded by the hindrance of life-saving humanitarian assistance as a result of the ongoing conflict, the drought and subsequent crop failure pushed nearly one million people residing in 43 districts in the region to the verge of starvation.

In southern and southeastern Ethiopia, particularly the Borena Zone of Oromia and the Liban, Afder, and Dawa zones of the Somali Region, where recovery from prior severe droughts is sluggish, there is an imminent risk of starvation.

According to the latest report by Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), a global early warning and analysis on food insecurity, a staggering number of Ethiopians who remain displaced and destitute from the previous shocks face extreme difficulty accessing food in these zones. With the high likelihood of further flood-related displacement and additional asset losses, the FEWS NET projected that famine is looming in these areas.

…neither the response nor the level concern displayed by the the authorities of the federal government seem to match the rapid deterioration into acute food insecurity transpiring on the ground.”

The network has classified the drought-hit parts of the Tigray region, the south and southeast in the Somali and Oromia regions, and the northeastern Amhara region under ‘Emergency’ (IPC phase 4), with a credible risk for more severe outcomes. “As a result, Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes with households in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) are considered most likely through early 2024; however, there is a credible risk for more severe outcomes if anticipated food and income from livestock production does not materialize,” the report warned.

There is no IPC Phase 6!

However, neither the response nor the level of concern displayed by the authorities of the federal government seem to match the rapid deterioration into acute food insecurity transpiring on the ground over the past couple of months.

Instead, Shiferaw Teklemariam (PhD), the commissioner for the federal government’s Disaster Risk Management Commission, issued direct warning over semantics against those who dare refer to the crisis as famine and report instances of death by starvation. The Commissioner told state-affiliated media that “the information that the drought has turned into famine is baseless and being circulated by parties with ulterior motives.”

Our call was made following firsthand field reports by our reporters exposing how the drought had already put in danger the lives of hundreds of thousands of households and decimated millions of livestock in several parts of the country.”

The commissioner pointed out that a humanitarian response worth 15.2 billion birr, including more than 4.2 billion birr from partner aid organizations, is on course to be distributed to the drought affected areas in eight zones in Amhara, three zones in Afar, and three zones in Tigray regions. While the efforts are commendable, if implemented, for millions at risk of death by starvation it may already be too little, too late.

Furthermore, in the same interview the commissioner admitted that security problems were posing significant challenges to the delivery of humanitarian aid in some areas, but he failed to address the severity of the crisis, or to propose drastic measures commensurate with the looming danger.

As early as February 2022, this publication urged the government to declare the drought a matter of national disaster in order to mobilize the level of response it deserved. Our call was made following firsthand field reports by our reporters exposing how the drought had already put in danger the lives of hundreds of thousands of households and decimated millions of livestock in several parts of the country. More than 20 months later, and after hundreds of people have already perished, let alone to declare an emergency and mobilize a national response, the government instead is denying the extent of the calamity.

After millions of Ethiopians have fallen victims of the 1984 famine, including the death by starvation of up to a million, it has to be acknowledged that the recent reports of death by starvation in Amhara and Tigray regions are the first to have been officially admitted by regional authorities. 

Millions are on the verge of death. Authorities must stop wrangling over the semantics of description and declare the crisis a national emergency.”

In addition to establishing an ‘Emergency Response Committee’ the Tigray Interim Administration has allocated 50 million birr for emergency life support, calling on entrepreneurs, Tigrayan diaspora, and other concerned stakeholders to provide urgent support through the emergency response committee. This is commendable, but it needs the federal government’s concerted effort to facilitate and fast-track a coordinated response mechanism.

In the Amhara region, in the Wag Himra zone, for instance, local officials revealed that only 42% of those in dire need received one round of food aid. This cannot be allowed to be taken as a standard response in the face of this looming tragedy.

Failing to properly understand the severity of the crisis, or admit the death of helpless civilians by starvation will significantly hamper the response to the catastrophe. Millions are on the verge of death. Authorities must stop wrangling over the semantics of description and declare the crisis a national emergency in order to coordinate appropriate responses before it is too late. AS