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Over 5 million people face extreme hunger as the Tigray conflict surges past six months
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Planting season comes to a halt as thousands of farmers lost tools, seeds and livestock
Six months since the conflict erupted in Tigray, thousands of farmers have nothing to plant ahead of the rainy season as the crisis compounded by climate-fuelled locust devastated their tools and livestock and pushed over 5 million people to extreme levels of hunger, warned Oxfam today.
Gezahegn Kebede Gebrehana, Oxfam’s Country Director in Ethiopia said:
“Farming should be beginning now ahead of the long rainy season in June, but it has come to a total halt due to conflict and the absence of rain. Many farmers have no seeds to plant, and their oxen and tools were looted or destroyed in the conflict. Trade and market exchanges have stagnated as people fear a resurgence of fighting.”
Continuous support required for Communities Impacted by the Ongoing Desert Locusts Crisis in the Greater Horn of Africa - Joint statement by the Regional Desert Locust Alliance (RDLA)
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Nairobi, 10 March 2021
Following the extensive breeding that took place at the end of 2020, desert locusts remain present across the greater Horn of Africa (HoA). Additionally, recent rains in parts of Kenya and Ethiopia provide an opportunity for the current swarms to mature and lay eggs, which would lead to another generation of breeding. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reports that the current situation differs from this time last year, in that current swarms are smaller, and less numerous1 . The impact on affected communities however remains high. In addition to multiple waves of desert locusts, communities also faced multiple crises in 2020, including insecurity, cyclones, floods and dry spells, as well as the social and economic consequences of the Covid
Conflict compounded by Covid-19 and climate change pushes millions in Tigray to the brink - Oxfam
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The conflict in Tigray compounded by climate-fuelled locust infestations and coronavirus has left millions of people in desperate need of humanitarian aid yet access to those affected continues to be restricted, warned Oxfam today.
Recent Oxfam assessments in South and West Tigray, as well as neighbouring North Amhara, found that communities were already struggling to cope before the conflict erupted in November 2020.
Gezahegn Kebede Gebrehana, Oxfam’s Country Director in Ethiopia said:
“The three lethal Cs - conflict, coronavirus and climate change - have pushed millions of Ethiopians in Tigray to the brink. Even before the conflict, people had lost up to half their crops due to climate-fuelled plagues of locusts and they were struggling due to the devastating health and economic impacts of coronavirus. The conflict erupted in the middle of the harvest season, halting at