A Scots charity chief had warned the developing hunger situation in Ethiopia is "as extreme as anything I've witnessed" following a deadly civil war.
The two-year conflict raged from November 2020 to 2022 in the Tigray region, with government forces battling those of the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
The civil war destroyed essential infrastructure and health services, and is estimated to have claimed the lives of upwards of 600,000 people before a halt to fighting was agreed between the two parties in November 2022.
The Ethiopian government has projected that 15.8million people will require food assistance in 2024, including four million internally displaced people and 7.2m needing emergency help.
Read More: Emergency appeal as millions of children face starvation in Ethiopia
The situation is made worse by serious staff shortages and damage to school buildings sustained during the conflict – approximately 15,000 teachers are still unaccounted for and 95% of classrooms in the Central Zone of Tigray are damaged as a result of the war.
Dr Abraha Gebreegziabher, a paediatrician in the Tigray capital of Mekelle said: "We are seeing three times as many cases of malnutrition as normal, and the mortality rate is five times higher.
"The number of children dying from malnutrition was quite stable for the last 13 years, but since the war, it’s doubled. Previous deaths were generally linked to other health conditions, but now malnutrition is a singular cause on its own.”
The head of Scots charity Mary's Meals recently took a trip to the devastated region, and has warned of the severity of the situation.
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow says: “It’s hard to exaggerate just how serious the situation is in Tigray. People are already dying of hunger and everything we're hearing on the ground points to a well-founded fear of much worse to come if the world doesn’t respond.
"We’ve heard accounts of children who no longer feel the pain from hunger pangs, not because they have eaten, but because they don’t have the energy to feel pain anymore.
“It’s hard not to make comparisons between how the world was so moved to act nearly 40 years ago when Ethiopia was gripped by the infamous famine of the 80s and the situation today that is virtually being ignored.
"We need to make sure that the terrible outcome Tigray is heading for doesn’t happen, but it will if we don’t act now.”
Mary’s Meals has just launched a crisis appeal to invite support from around the world and to spotlight Tigray’s deepening humanitarian crisis. Sharing stories of people they have encountered in the region in the past weeks, charity staff hope to underline the critical need for simple daily meals in schools like Ara Primary School in Eastern Tigray.
Read More: We promised it would never happen again in Ethiopia... but happening again it is
The school has been open since the conflict eased, but more than 300 pupils have failed to return – many of them having to work instead, in the hope of receiving something to eat.
The small numbers of children who are attending are barely able to interact because of what they have endured and their unrelenting hunger.
When the surrounding community heard Mary’s Meals representatives were visiting Ara Primary School, 15 students registered for school in just a few hours.
Head teacher Weynareg Araya says: “The community wants this school to continue but, in some houses, they want their children to support them to make money. There is frustration in the homes because of hunger, but they know how important school is. A school feeding programme would be important here. It will support students to be active and learn. Those out of school will come back, and they will be energetic to learn.”
To find out more and donate, visit marysmeals.org.uk.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel