More than 90% of people in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray are in need of emergency food aid, the United Nations food agency has announced.
“A total of 5.2 million people, 91% of Tigray’s population, need emergency food assistance due to conflict since last November,” the World Food Programme (WFP) says in a statement.
It has appealed for $203m to boost its efforts in the region in order to “save lives and livelihoods” up to the end of the year.
The agency says it has so far provided emergency food assistance to about a million people since it started distributing food in March.
The conflict in Tigray erupted in November when Ethiopia’s government launched an offensive to oust the region’s former ruling party, the TPLF, from power after its fighters captured federal military bases.
The seven-month conflict has had a devastating impact on a region that was already food insecure.
On Tuesday, the WFP said it was highly concerned over the number of people who needed nutritional support and emergency assistance, adding that it was doing all it could to provide aid to more than two million people in the coming months.
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