Tigray drought plan faces $623 million funding gap, regional commission says

A drought and multi-hazard response plan for Tigray says more than 3.7 million people need humanitarian assistance across 50 rural districts, while almost all of the required funding remains unsecured.

The plan requires $626.8 million, according to data attributed to the Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission. Only $3.38 million had been secured, leaving a gap of $623.16 million, or more than 99 percent of the requirement.

The target population includes more than 900,000 internally displaced people and about one million Productive Safety Net Programme beneficiaries. The regional commission classified 21 of the 50 districts at the highest risk level and said humanitarian organisations have a six-week lead time to carry out anticipatory measures before the expected peak impact.

Planning documents cite a joint forecast by the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute and the Tigray Meteorological Services Center for a moderate-to-strong El Niño during the 2026 rainy season. The forecast anticipates delayed and irregular rainfall, an early end to rains, prolonged dry spells and unusually high temperatures.

Emergency food assistance represents the largest proposed allocation at $366.78 million. The plan also sets requirements for water and sanitation, nutrition, agriculture and public-health work, including repairs to non-functioning water systems, drought-tolerant seeds and livestock vaccinations.

The figures are projections and operational requirements in a regional preparedness framework, not a confirmed count of people already experiencing the plan’s worst-case drought impacts.