Nearly 400 people have died of starvation [8] in Ethiopia's Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, according to the national ombudsman. It's a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body—the government normally dismisses [9] famine warnings as "politicking." Despite the lifting in November of a nationwide food aid freeze [10] imposed by USAID and the World Food Program over large-scale government-run food thefts, just 14% of 3.2 million people [11] targeted for food relief in Tigray received rations last month. There have reportedly been technical problems over fitting GPS trackers to food trucks and putting QR codes on ration cards. A lack of money is also an issue: the UN called on donors last month to urgently ramp up [12] funding to avoid a catastrophe in the coming few months in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, Oromia, and southern Ethiopia [13], where around 4 million people need immediate food aid.
From The New Humanitarian [15], Feb. 4
