TIGRAY, 11 June, 2011 (TON): On Wednesday, a U.N. official said that a high-level UN-led committee focuses on rapid responses to humanitarian crises estimates that some 350,000 people in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region are facing famine conditions.

On Monday, the estimate was presented at a meeting of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, comprising 18 U.N. and non-U.N. organizations.

That number is expected to rise beyond 400,000 over the next few months if access isn't provided to those areas, said Brian Lander, the World Food Programme's Deputy Director of the Emergency Division.

He argued, "We'd like to get that message out to our donors very clearly because while we are able to deliver to some effect today, if we don't have the resources to maintain the pipeline of food coming into Tigray that really hampers our ability to plan forward to adapt and be responsive as the situation evolves over time."

The UN food agencies stressed in the report released Thursday that over 60% of the population, more than 5.5 million people, are grappling with high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Food Catastrophe level 3-5) in Tigray and the neighboring zones of Amhara and Afar.

According to the IPC report "the key cause of acute food insecurity in Tigray is conflict as it has led to massive population displacement, widespread destruction of livelihoods and critical infrastructure, and loss of employment. Conflict has also limited access to markets."

Moreover, Lander stressed how providing humanitarian assistance in the Tigray region is extremely difficult and often risky.