https://nypost.com/2021/01/06/over-2-million-displaced-by-conflict-in-ethiopia/
In November of 2020, a war between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) took place in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. There has been a long time tension between the two groups before it turned into clashing between the two militaries. The UN has been supplying the people of the Tigray region with food supplies on a regular basis however the fighting and destruction has caused many issues including the blocking of the UN from being able to deliver the supplies. Another issue is the citizens of the Tigray region are fleeing as fast as possible to different parts of Ethiopia, or other countries. Approximately 950,000 people have fled Tigray, 50,000 of those people have gone to surrounding countries, mainly Suddan. However the amount of people that have fled Tigray are ballpark estimates because there is a lot of false information being put out through the media by the officials trying to take into account the amount of people that have fled. In the first 6 days of January alone, approximately 800 new refugees have made their way into eastern Sudan.
This issue in Ethiopia is going to have a very large, lasting effect on Ethiopia’s government structure and economy. With Tigray having lost so many people due to the military presence and the burning of people’s villages, the relocation of upwards of a million people will be difficult for Ethiopia to recover from. The surrounding countries, mainly Sudan, are also going to be heavily impacted economically, they are taking in tens of thousands of refugees at a very rapid rate which is extremely difficult to do for any country.
This will have a very large impact on Ethiopia’s ability to produce their biggest products which are all naturally produced. Their major exports include coffee, livestock, fruits, vegetables and flowers. Due to the destruction of a lot of Tigray it will make it difficult for Ethiopia to continue to farm their major exports. Therefore it will be very difficult, and it will continue to be difficult for Ethiopia to keep up with their trade agreement with other countries. Some of those countries being the United States, China and Sweden who are all very strong economically and to continue their trade agreement with those countries they would have to keep up with their exporting which will be difficult. Not only is Ethiopia losing land by the day, but they are also having to accommodate for a mass migration of people from one side of the country to another.