Over 350,000 people in Ethiopia's conflict-ravaged Tigray region are experiencing dire hunger, finds a new report by the United Nations and other aid groups.

As of May 2021, a total of 5.5 million people in Tigray and the neighbouring zones of Amhara and Afar (more than half of the population) are facing "high levels of acute food insecurity" with 353,000 facing catastrophic levels. The situation is expected to worsen through September, the report also says.

A key cause of the desperate food situation in Tigray is conflict, the report found: "This severe crisis results from the cascading effects of conflict, including population displacements, movement restrictions, limited humanitarian access, loss of harvest and livelihood assets, and dysfunctional or non-existent markets."