The 1984 famine is still one of the first things that comes to mind when Ethiopia is mentioned. Almost 40 years on, human rights organisations fear one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 20th century could be repeating itself.

Officially the 1984 famine, which was concentrated in the north of the country, was blamed on a regional drought. But the policies of Mengistu Haile Mariam’s military dictatorship to starve the Tigrayan rebels contributed too...