We're facing starvation as crops fail'

THE resilience of volunteer school cook Mihret Gebru shines through as she raises a family amid a severe humanitarian crisis in the droughthit Ethiopian region of Tigray.

- Steph Spyro

Communities here were beginning to emerge from the shadows of a catastrophic two-year war in which fields of crops burned, oxen used for ploughing were slaughtered and machinery was looted or destroyed.

But now drought has turned formerly lush landscapes into desolate wastelands and farmers face ruin as their crops wither and die.

Food prices have soared, meaning families are struggling to be afford to feed their children.

Mother-of-six Mihret said: "Twelve relatives died because of the war.

That was worse than the current drought, but we face so many economic challenges. We face a shortage of food. There was a blockade which led to huge starvation." Despite their best efforts to cultivate crops, the drought has rendered their farmland dry and barren.

Mihret sold all her animals, including chickens, to buy food for her family, but her money did not go far.

She said: "One 1kg jug of wheat costs 85 bir [£1.15]. It is very expensive. Before the war it cost 30 bir [40p]. I began doing people's hair to make money."

Mihret volunteers as a cook at Ara Primary School, in the Hintalo District, where two of her children attend classes.