What people from war-torn Tigray told us about the state of their lives amid the war (The Conversation)
The Conversation published an op-ed by IFPRI researchers Kibrom Abay and Gurush Berhane, and CYMMIT Spatial Economist Jordan Chamberlin with contributors, Kibrom Tafare, and Mihari Abay. The authors write that the Russia-Ukraine crisis has captured the world’s attention, and understandably so, but at the risk of eclipsing the visibility of massive humanitarian crises elsewhere. In particular, it has muted attention to Ethiopia’s ongoing civil war, which started in November 2020 and has caused enormous human suffering. Millions have been left without access to adequate food, healthcare, and basic services. Some characterize Ethiopia’s conflict, between the central government and the regional Tigrayan government, as the deadliest war in the world at the present time. For each battle, food insecurity increased by 38 percentage points. the share of households that reported being worried about getting enough food, being unable to eat healthy foods, or eating few food varieties increased by approximately one percentage point following each battle; the war also significantly reduced households’ ability to buy enough staple foods and essential goods, like medicine; to name a few of the worrying effects of the war.
