Ethiopia’s conflict and farming in Tigray

Situated in the northern periphery of Ethiopia, about 75% of the 5.7 million population of Tigray are farmers. Most people who live there depend on local yields for survival. It’s expected that there’ll be an even greater demand on local yields this year because millions cannot be reached with aid and last year’s harvest largely failed.

Land preparation (ploughing) usually happens between March and July. Sadly, our findings revealed a painful situation in which farmers try to grow crops, but they’ve lost many of their assets and fear for their lives. War conditions have made ploughing very challenging as oxen, used to plough farmlands, have been looted and deliberately killed.

While it was in a minimal food insecurity situation before the war, the larger part of Tigray has now entered emergency and famine conditions.