In 1984, people affected by famine across Ethiopia gathered at feeding centres and waited for food. World Vision's historical account, supported by dated photographs, describes emaciated families thronging the centres and waiting for distribution.
Drought was compounded by conflict, poverty and the difficulty of movement. Even when relief supplies arrived, the number of people in need was immense. An order of waiting became necessary to distribute limited meals as fairly as possible.
There is nothing uplifting about a famine queue. Yet the wish to bring food to one's family is universally understood. The line reveals both the scale of the emergency and the one-person-at-a-time work of relief.