Ethiopia’s Tigray food crisis: Who is telling the truth?

On December 24, 1987, the Washington Post published a story titled: “In Ethiopia, food is a weapon of war”. In this startling article, author Blaine Harden intensely described how food was used as a fundamental weapon of war by both the Ethiopian government and rebel organisations during the country’s civil war prevailing at the time. 

The rebel organisations included the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front - which later caused the creation of Eritrea as an independent nation - and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - which claimed to be fighting not for independence from Ethiopia, but to topple the regime, and give Tigrayans a voice in a new national government.

Harden observed that the famine fight was a battle over rights to fill the stomachs of the peasantry. And according to interviews with Tigrayan peasants, the government used food aid to lure drought victims from rebel-held areas to the feeding camps.

While the dynamics may be different, the resemblance of the events described in the story above and today’s food crisis in Tigray, 34 years later, is unbelievably close, with almost similar players.

Today, the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has become a grinding stalemate. Famine is the latest chapter in a conflict that has spanned over a year, with many accusing the government and rebels of using food as a weapon of war. The worsening food crisis in the region has pitted three parties - the Ethiopian government, the United Nations (UN) and the Tigray forces - against each other. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other senior government officials have insisted that there is no hunger in Tigray.

On the other hand, the UN blames the crisis on Ethiopia’s government and it claims that the Ethiopian army routinely blocks aid workers from delivering food for millions of Tigray civilians living under dire conditions.

In truth, none of the parties is entirely innocent and in one way or another, they have all contributed to the escalating food crisis. And behind the various contradictory press statements made for or by either side lies a brutal human tragedy.

According to Al Jazeera, starvation has been Ethiopian government’s weapon of choice. For eight months, government soldiers – and their Eritrean allies – stole and burned food, stopped farmers from ploughing the land, looted hospitals, and helped themselves to much of the relief food delivered from outside. 

But while the allegations made against the Ethiopian government may hold truth, there are reliable reports which indicate that the TPLF fighters have also been involved in attacking food trucks and aid personnel. In fact, the United States has accused the TPLF fighters of looting aid warehouses in the areas they have captured.

And as we navigate through this crisis, we should not forget that before Abiy first took office in April 2018, the TPLF leaders had dominated the Ethiopian federal government for 27 years. But even during this time, hunger was a perennial threat in Tigray, a heavily agricultural region, prone to drought and plagues.

The UN and its staff have also been involved in a series of serious allegations, especially those concerning the “meddling in the internal affairs of Ethiopia” and being TPLF sympathisers. This actually contributed to the recent expulsion of several UN officials from the country.

Honestly, I don’t’ really know who is right or wrong. But if it is true that the Ethiopian government and/or the TPLF are starving their own people, they are, sadly, leading Ethiopia to ruins and should perhaps be held accountable.

But in my considered view, not all hope is lost. Because through dialogue, there’s still a chance for peace to return to Tigray and Ethiopia as a whole and the fact is, in the realm of power, there are no permanent enemies.

Mr Brian Mukalazi is the country director of Every Child Ministries Uganda.

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