1958 Tigray famine

The 1958 Tigray famine was a provincial famine in the Ethiopian Empire during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie.

1958 Tigray famine
Country	Ethiopia
Location	Tigray and Wollo provinces
Period	1957–1958
Total deaths	100,000
Succeeded by	1972–1975 Wollo famine

Destruction of infrastructure due to wars and rebellions

After the end of World War II, Tigray was marred by the ravages of wars and the neglect of successive administrations. The region had been deeply affected by local rebellions and major wars against external aggressors, resulting in severe destruction to its agricultural infrastructure—the primary source of sustenance for 98% of its inhabitants.^[1][2]

By late 1957, following increasing pressures faced by rural communities, coupled with disasters such as droughts and locust raids, famine broke out in Tigray and parts of nearby Wollo. Haile Selassie's response to the famine was characterized by bureaucratic inertia and efforts to cover up the famine, in the end no significant government relief was given and up to 100,000 peasants starved to death.^[3][4]