The United Nations is warning of a repeat of Ethiopia's devastating 1984 famine, and is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the northern region of Tigray.
Mark Lowcock, the world body's humanitarian chief, told the BBC that hundreds of thousands of people were already experiencing famine conditions in Tigray after months of conflict.
Mr Lowcock called on the "men with guns" and their political masters to allow full access for aid workers.
And he said more money was urgently needed to support a massive expansion of humanitarian assistance.
But the Ethiopian government has brushed aside talk of a ceasefire.
And those in most urgent need appear to be trapped behind the frontlines - isolated and increasingly desperate, their homes and crops and clinics destroyed.
